Estrogen staining in breast carcinoma by PAP methods compared to CEA and ferritin staining.

The aims of this paper are to demonstrate the stainability of estrogen, CEA, and ferritin in breast carcinomas, fibroadenomas, and fibrocystic diseases; to examine whether the findings of endogenous estrogen using the immunohistochemical detection method are related to estrogen receptor (ER) assays; and to determine whether the stainability of estrogen, CEA, and ferritin were related to the prognosis of breast carcinomas. In breast cancer, the stainability of estrogen using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) method was positively correlated with the dextran-coated charcoal (DCC) assay for ER. In breast cancers, the percentage of positive staining was 46% for estrogen, 48% for CEA, and 47% for ferritin. With all three stains, significant differences were observed between cancer and benign diseases. Cases that were both positive for estrogen staining and negative for CEA showed a good prognosis after the recurrence of disease. Our data suggest that the immunohistochemical staining of estrogen, CEA, and ferritin might predict the biological behavior of breast carcinomas and be a prognostically useful indicator of breast cancer patients.