ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the biochemical and histochemical evidence for a multiplicity of estrogen binding sites. There is similar evidence that this is also the case in prostatic tissues. Ekman et al. describes the presence of type II estrogen receptor (ER) in samples of benign and malignant prostate. Huggins and Hodges were the first to report that a sizeable proportion of men with advanced prostatic carcinoma responded satisfactorily to endocrine manipulation. The diagnosis of prostatic cancer is frequently made by needle biopsy, consequently, the amount of tissue available requires specialized biochemical microassay and is unsuitable for conventional procedures. These factors prompted us to investigate the value of histochemistry in detecting androgen binding sites in prostatic tissue specimens. ER has been detected in prostatic tissues by several investigators, but the significance and relationship to endocrine response in prostate cancer is unknown.
