Prostate carcinoma expression of estrogen receptor-β as detected by PPG5/10 antibody has positive association with primary Gleason grade and Gleason score

The objective of this study was to study the expression of estrogen receptor-beta (ER-beta) in prostatic adenocarcinoma and correlate it with Gleason grade and clinical outcome. Immunohistochemical evaluation was performed on prostate needle biopsies from 53 patients (T1-T3betaN0M0). ER-beta and ER-alpha transcripts were also studied by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in PC-3 and LNCaP prostate carcinoma cell lines. ERbeta was expressed in 93% of adenocarcinomas and was positively associated with primary Gleason grade (P = 0.028 for percentage of positive cells and P = 0.046 using a semiquantitative scale) and Gleason score (P = 0.010 for percentage of positive cells and P = 0.014 using a semiquantitative scale). ER-beta expression in the benign epithelium of prostates with adenocarinoma was detected in 92% of cases and in the stroma in 47% of cases. A trend for longer time to treatment failure was noted for cases with low ER-beta expression after curatively intended radiotherapy (P = 0.082). PC-3, an aggressive prostate cancer cell line with invasive properties in nude mice, expressed higher levels of ER-beta than LNCaP, a nonmetastasizing cell line, whereas no difference for ER-alpha transcripts could be observed. Our findings suggest that ER-beta, as detected by PPG5/10 antibody, may have a role in the process of dedifferentiation of prostate adenocarcinomas, with higher levels present in less differentiated tumors. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.