Cutaneous leiomyomas lack estrogen and progesterone receptor immunoreactivity

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog therapy is useful in treating uterine and some extrauterine smooth muscle tumors. These smooth muscle tumors have been demonstrated to have estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor immunoreactivity. The estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor immunoreactivity of smooth muscle tumors of the skin has not been reported. We evaluated 15 examples of cutaneous leiomyomas for estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor with ER-1D5 antibody and PGR-1A6 antibody. None of the 15 cutaneous leiomyomas demonstrated positive staining by this method. The tumorigenesis of cutaneous leiomyomas does not appear to be related to estrogen or progesterone receptor-mediated effects.