Abstract
ALTHOUGH a significant role has been established for oestrogen in the growth of some animal1,2 and human3,4 mammary carcinoma, evidence for androgen dependency of human breast cancer has remained equivocal. Although the existence of a mouse mammary carcinoma which shows modest androgen responsiveness5 has supported the notion that some human breast cancer might also be dependent on androgens, no direct proof has been available. We have described our work characterising the oestrogen responsiveness of MCF-7, a human breast cancer cell line maintained in tissue culture for over 3 yr (ref. 6). This cell line was shown to contain oestrogen receptor, to be killed by antioestrogens, and stimulated by physiological concentrations of oestradiol. We now describe further investigations of this cell line which reveal that in addition to oestrogen responsiveness, this cell line shows threefold enhancement of precursor incorporation into macromolecules by androgens using serum-free conditions which preclude stimulatory effects of other trophic hormones. Furthermore, this stimulation by androgens seems to be mediated by interaction with a cytoplasmic androgen receptor protein which is clearly differentiable from the oestrogen receptor also found in these cells. Aside from defining an interesting new system in which the action of androgen can be studied in a human cell line in tissue culture, the present study provides unequivocal evidence for the androgen responsiveness of some human breast cancer at least in vitro.
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The erratum article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1038/258774b0
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LIPPMAN, M., BOLAN, G. & HUFF, K. Human breast cancer responsive to androgen in long term tissue culture. Nature 258, 339–341 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/258339a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/258339a0
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