Steroid hormone receptors in human squamous carcinoma cell lines

Specific estrogen, progesterone and androgen receptors were determined in 19 well-characterized squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC) cell lines. Ten of the lines were derived from patients with SCC of the larynx and nine were from patients with SCC originating in other areas of the head and neck. Estrogen receptors (ER) were found in seven of 10 cell lines derived from squamous cancers of the larynx (70%) but in only one of the nine SCC cell lines from sites other than larynx. Progesterone receptors (PGR) were more evenly distributed. Eight of the 10 laryngeal carcinoma cell lines (80%) and five of the nine non-laryngeal SCC lines (55%) had progesterone receptors. Only one cell line, UM-SCC-10B (derived from a recurrent carcinoma of the larynx) was found to express androgen receptors (AR). Expression of specific estrogen receptors was not dependent on the sex of the patients since lines from both males and females contained receptors. These results establish that squamous carcinoma cell lines may express specific steroid hormone receptors and that cell lines from cancers of the larynx (an organ known to be androgen-responsive) are more likely to express estrogen receptors than androgen receptors. From this initial survey it appears that there is a striking difference in estrogen and progesterone receptor content between SCC cell lines originating from larynx cancers and cell lines established from squamous carcinomas of other head and neck regions. The presence of estrogen receptors in a high proportion of laryngeal carcinoma cell lines suggests that hormonal therapy may be a useful adjunctive therapy in selected patients with cancer of the larynx.