Immunohistochemical Localization of Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin in Normal and Neoplastic Breast Tissue

G. Sinnecker; O. Hiort; P. W. L. Kwan; R. A. DeLellis

doi:10.1055/s-2007-1004847

Hormone and Metabolic Research, Table of Contents

Horm Metab Res 1990; 22(1): 47-50
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-1004847

Clinical

Immunohistochemical Localization of Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin in Normal and Neoplastic Breast Tissue

G. Sinnecker¹ , O. Hiort¹ , P. W. L. Kwan² , R. A. DeLellis²

¹Universitäts-Kinderklinik, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
²Department of Pathology, Tufts University School of Medicine and the New England Medical Center Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, U. S. A.

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Grant Si 323/2-1

Abstract

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Summary

The distribution of sex hormone-binding globulin-like antigens (SHBG-LA) in normal and neoplastic human breast tissues was investigated by immunohistochemistry, employing a monospecific polyclonal antiserum against highly purified human SHBG and an avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex (ABC) method in formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue sections. In normal breast tissues the staining of SHBG-LA was present exclusively in the cytoplasm of epithelial cells of ductal and ductular types. Nuclei as well as stromal and lymphatic tissues remained unstained. While the staining was positive in all cases of intraductal carcinoma, only 4 out of 15 infiltrating carcinomas revealed SHBG-LA. The demonstration of a plasma sex steroid binding globulin in the cytoplasm of endocrine target cells is consistent with the hypothesis that steroid-binding globulins are able to enter target cells. The apparent loss of this specific cell function in infiltrating carcinomas may result from dedifferentiation and change of cell membrane properties occurring during the process of neoplastic progression.

Key words

Intracellular SHBG - Mammary Carcinoma

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