Abstract:

Objective
 To study the expressions of progesterone receptor A (PRA) and B (PRB) in breast cancer and adjacent non-malignant tissues and the correlations between their  expressions and the clinical characteristics. Methods The expressions of PRA and PRB in 50 specimens of female human breast cancer and adjacent non-malignant tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry. The correlations between the expressions of PRA and PRB and the clinical characteristics were analyzed.Results PRA and PRB expressed in both the nuclei and the cytoplasma of tumor cells and epithelial cells of the acini and ducts.The percentages of  PRA and PRB positive cells were 42%,42% and 52%,36% in the cancer and the adjacent non-malignant tissues, respectively,there was no significant difference.The expression of PRA was significantly correlated with the age of patient(r＝－0.316 8，P<0.05) in adjacent non-malignant tissues.The expressions of PRA and PRB were significantly correlated with the expression of CDC-47（r＝－0.422 8，P<0.05；r＝－0.529 5，P<0.05）and ERα(r＝0.403 2，P<0.05；r＝0.378　6，P<0.05) in malignant tissues.The expressions of PRA in malignant tissue or  adjacent non-malignant tissues were significantly correlated with the expression of PRB (r＝0.840 1，P<0.05；r＝0.424 6，P<0.05). Conclusion PRA and PRB have synergetic effect,but PRA may play a more important role in the development and progression of breast cancer.

Key words: progesterone receptor;breast neoplasms;immunohistochemistry