Detection of androgen receptors in human esophageal cancer.

The incidence of esophageal cancer is much higher in men than in women and the prognosis is generally worse in men than in women. This seems to depend on the difference in the hormonal environments of the patient. In this paper, androgen receptors (AR) were measured in 21 cases of human esophageal cancer. Of these, two cases of esophageal cancer xenografts implanted into nude mice were AR positive. In EH-1, an established cell line from human esophageal cancer, the number of binding sites was increased and tumor growth was enhanced by testosterone administration. On the other hand, the number of binding sites was decreased and tumor growth was suppressed by castration. The administration of estrogen, however, did not inhibit tumor growth.