Hormone receptors in renal cell carcinoma. Their utility as predictors of response to endocrine therapy.

We have performed 23 estrogen and 24 progesterone receptor assays on tumor specimens from 26 patients with renal cancer, ten of whom subsequently received hormonal therapy for metastatic disease. Only one of these specimens contained measurable estrogen receptor levels, three contained low, but measurable progesterone receptor levels, and the remaining specimens contained no measurable estrogen or progesterone receptors. None of ten patients with metastases showed evidence of an objective response to hormonal therapy. Our data suggest that few, if any, renal cancers have high titers of estrogen or progesterone receptors, and that those patients whose tumors have low receptor titers are unlikely to respond to hormonal therapy.