[Prolactin--significance in benign and malignant breast diseases]

At present, the role of prolactin has not yet been precisely determined both in the development and in the progression of benign and malignant diseases of the breast. Experimental investigations and data of the human receptor assay have clearly indicated the initial and promoting activity of prolactin in the genesis of breast tumors. However, the data published so far, which is in some cases highly contradictory, does not allow a positive appraisal on the correlation of the prolactin level and breast diseases in clinical research and experimental studies. The studies still to be carried out in human medicine with precise definition of the TRH-prolactin-target cell axis compared with the proof of the receptor radioimmunoassay in healthy and malignant breast tissue which has still not yet been provided might give rise to rather more clarity in this rather manifold problem.