ABSTRACT
Many groups are investigating histochemical and immunocytochemical approaches, while there has been relatively little research on human tissue with autoradiographic methods, although these techniques were the first to be extensively investigated in experimental animals. Autoradiographic techniques for localizing steroid hormone receptors were described in 1966 by Stumpf and Roth, who showed that dry- and thaw-mount autoradiography yielded data that agreed well with biochemical assays. This chapter utilizes thaw-mount autoradiography to investigate the distribution of putative estrogen target cells in human breast lesions. It examines a series of human mammary lesions, both benign and malignant. The chapter discusses in terms of the accuracy of the method and the possible biologic implications of our findings. Dry-mount and thaw-mount autoradiography are accurate means of localizing steroid hormone binding sites in experimental animals. The necessity of in vitro incubation for the application of such methods to the study of human lesions introduces the potential for artifacts.
