Breast Cancer Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Breast Cancer, including details on symptoms, genetics, screening, treatment, information. | ||||||||
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Oestrogen receptor beta and neoadjuvant therapy with tamoxifen: prediction of response and effects of treatment.Miller WR, Anderson TJ, Dixon JM, Saunders PT Breast Unit Research Group, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK. In order to elucidate the relative importance of oestrogen receptor (ER)alpha, ERbeta and an ERbeta variant (ERbeta2/betacx) in the response of breast cancers to tamoxifen, tumour levels of each receptor were assessed in 36 patients before and after 3 months of neoadjuvant treatment with tamoxifen (20 mg daily). All patients were postmenopausal women presenting with large ERalpha-positive breast cancers. Clinical response to treatment was assessed by tumour volume changes as determined from sequential ultrasounds and pathological response by comparison of the tumour morphology before and after treatment. Of 33 cases, 23 (70%) were classified as having a clinical response and 16 (48%) as having a response pathologically. All tumours stained positively for ERalpha and ERbeta and 15 out of 33 (45%) for ERbeta2/betacx. There were no significant differences in quantitative expression of any receptor between tumours that subsequently responded and that did not, whether response was assessed clinically or pathologically. Tamoxifen treatment was associated with a decrease in ERalpha, but an increase was the most frequent change (17 out of 33) in ERbeta, and no consistent change was evident in staining of the ERbeta2/betacx variant. In summary, ERbeta1 and ERbeta2/betacx variant protein are detected in ERalpha-positive breast tumours but their expression is not associated with a response to tamoxifen. Differential changes in ERalpha and ERbeta were seen with treatment. Published 3 May 2006 in Br J Cancer, 94(9): 1333-8.
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