# IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL RECEPTOR LOCALIZATION IN GYNECOLOGY

> **NIH NIH R01** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 1987 · $113,695

## Abstract

Gynecologic neoplasms can be among the most sensitive to hormonal
manipulations.  Studies of sex-steroid receptors in endometrial carcinomas
have yielded important biologic and clinical observations, including a
relationship between estrogen and progesterone receptor content concordance
and tumor differentiation as well as enhanced predictive value for
prognosis and response to hormone therapy.

A limiting factor in the accurate evaluation of the hormonal receptor
content of these gynecologic tumors has been the observation of high levels
of receptor in normal myometrium and in tumor stromal elements.  Such
components frequently constitute a significant portion of the sample and
cannot be mechanically dissected out efficiently.  This difficulty is not
experienced in breast tumors since the contribution to receptor content in
this tissue is uniformly low, reflecting the very low levels of binding
observed in normal breast epithelium and stroma.  The development of highly
specific and sensitive monoclonal antibodies to human estrogen receptor in
conjunction with a verified immunohistochemical technique for receptor
localization allows histologic dissection of the various components that
contribute to the observed total receptor content as determined
quantatively by biochemical assay.  Using this monoclonal antibody to
estrogen receptor (H222GammaSp) we propose to examine the
immunohistochemical localization of receptor in over 500 gynecologic tumors
that have been fresh frozen and stored at -80 degrees C since 1976 with
clinical follow-up through this period, in order to compare the pattern and
distribution of receptor to:  1) tumor differentiation and distribution of
cytologic patterns, 2) quantitative ER and PgR, 3) possible contributions
of non-tumor stromal elements to quantitative levels and 4) Prognosis and
relative sensitivity and specificity of immunohistologic assay accounting
for contributions of the various tissue elements in predicing clinical
outcome and response to therapy.  The immunohistochemical technique will be
tested on cytologic aspirates and curettings which will greatly enhance its
potential usefulness.  Continued efforts towards the development of PgR
monoclonal antibodies should permit the extension of the observations on
immunohistochemical ER localizations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3178884
- **Project number:** 5R01CA039635-02
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **SAM.gov UEI:** TP7EK8DZV6N5
- **Principal Investigator:** KENNETH S MCCARTY
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1987
- **Award amount:** $113,695
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1986-07-01 → 1989-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3178884

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3178884, IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL RECEPTOR LOCALIZATION IN GYNECOLOGY (5R01CA039635-02). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3178884. Licensed CC0.

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