ABSTRACT
Several methodological approaches to the morphological demonstration of steroid binding sites in target tissues have been progressively introduced. Cytochemical techniques, first devised to study steroid hormone action and estrogen responsiveness of human breast cancer, have since been applied to study the control of the prostate gland by sex hormones. Steroid hormones have always been assumed to enter cells by a simple, passive diffusion mechanism, at variance with polypeptide hormones which primarily interact with the cell surface. Since hormones exert their effect via specific receptors, the abnormal responsiveness could result from variations in the amount of active hormone receptors inducing an unregulated sustained cell proliferation. A cytoplasmic staining of neoplastic cells was prevalent with both fluorescent steroid analogs. A combined evaluation of cytoplasmic and nuclear binding seems to allow the prediction of hormone responsiveness with more reliability if the assay is performed in specimens obtained by transurethral diathermic electroresection.
