ABSTRACT
There is general agreement that a valid histologic method for detection of steroid receptors in human breast cancer would be a valuable clinical tool. Furthermore, by permitting determinations of tumor cell steroid binding heterogeneity and allowing for evaluation of the potential contribution of nonma-lignant tissue elements to the total steroid binding capacity of a specimen, a histologic procedure would be an important adjunct to conventional biochemical receptor assays. Of significantly greater importance than conformity with biochemical data both from a practical viewpoint as well as in helping to shed some light upon the nature of the binding revealed by histologic assays is their level of agreement with the clinical hormone responsiveness of breast cancer patients. The exact nature and significance of the binding sites revealed by histochemical assays remain unclear. Possibilities that some of the discrepancies which appear to exist may be due to artifacts in biochemical as well as in histochemical analytical methods should be explored.
