Oestrogen and progesterone receptors in carcinoma of the cervix

Oestrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors have been measured in 102 cervical carcinomas. With positive levels defined as concentrations exceeding 20 fmol/mg protein for cytoplasmic receptor and/or 200 fmol/mg DNA for nuclear receptor, 24% of tumours were dual receptor positive and 51% were dual receptor negative. The majority of adenocarcinomas (81%: 13/16) expressed ER (P less than 0.001) though only 54% (7/13) of these tumours co-expressed PR. There was a significant correlation between tumours positive for ER and those arising in premenopausal women (P = 0.011), with good or moderate differentiation (P = 0.027) and of smaller size (P = 0.025). Median follow-up is 19 months. Apart from advanced stage, tumour bulk (greater than 5 cm) was the only parameter associated with inferior progression-free survival, and most larger tumours were of advanced stage. No prognostic significance could be detected for receptor status.