The effect of 3-week tamoxifen treatment on oestrogen receptor levels in primary breast tumours: a flow cytometric study
| Autor: | M. Egan, L.G. Lunt, J.R. Young, I Brotherick, L.A. Webb, D. A. Browell, M. J. Higgs, BK Shenton, W. J. Cunliffe |
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| Rok vydání: | 1998 |
| Předmět: |
Cancer Research
medicine.medical_specialty Antineoplastic Agents Hormonal medicine.drug_class Mammary gland Population Breast Neoplasms Flow cytometry Breast cancer Internal medicine medicine Tumor Cells Cultured Humans education Receptor education.field_of_study medicine.diagnostic_test business.industry Estrogen Antagonists Antiestrogen medicine.disease Flow Cytometry Tamoxifen Endocrinology medicine.anatomical_structure Oncology Receptors Estrogen Estrogen Evaluation Studies as Topic business Research Article medicine.drug |
| Zdroj: | British Journal of Cancer |
| ISSN: | 0007-0920 |
| Popis: | The effect of 3-week, preoperative tamoxifen treatment on oestrogen receptor (ER) levels, expressed by primary breast tumours, was examined. Patients (age-matched) with breast cancer, confirmed by fine-needle aspiration, were either treated with 20 mg ml(-1) oral tamoxifen per day or received no medication in the 3-week interval between assessment and surgery. Quantification of ER using flow cytometry was performed on the surgically removed tumour samples from tamoxifen-treated (n = 40) and control (n = 38, untreated) patient groups. The tumours were mechanically disaggregated, and saponin treatment rendered these cells permeable to antibodies. Using dual-parameter labelling with a FITC-conjugated antibody (NCL-5D3) directed against cytokeratin 8/18/19 and a biotinylated antibody (DAKO-ER 1D5) directed against the oestrogen receptor, ER quantification was determined on a number of receptors per cell basis. Using QC quantum bead standards, ER levels in the epithelial cell population, the non-epithelial cell population and the whole-cell population (ER+) were calculated. ER levels were significantly lower in the total cell population than tamoxifen-treated patients (P = 0.002) when compared with the control (untreated) group. By using a gating procedure using 5D3 antibody positivity, a significantly lower level was detected on examining the cytokeratin-positive population alone (P = 0.006). Using a complementary gating technique, ER levels were quantified in the cytokeratin-negative cell population. Examination of this group of cells showed no significant difference between the levels of oestrogen receptor found in the tamoxifen-treated and untreated groups (P = 0.4). We have demonstrated that ER levels can be monitored by flow cytometry. ER levels in patients treated with tamoxifen 3 weeks before operation are significantly lower than in a comparative group of patients who received no drug. Furthermore, the most significant difference in receptor levels is seen by quantification of total ER levels expressed by all the tissue. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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