Background: Estimation of oestrogen receptors (ER) and progesterone receptors (PgR) by dextran-coated charcoal (DCC) or immunohistochemical methods have become standard practices in the management of breast cancer.
Materials and methods: A "multiplex" polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system was developed for quantitative estimation of ER and PgR mRNA in breast tumour specimens.
Results: A statistically significant correlation could be found between the mRNA of the oestrogen and the progesterone receptor (p < or = 0.0001). Protein data defined in classes, compared with mRNA data showed a significant correlation for the oestrogen receptor (p < or = 0.0001) as well as for the progesterone receptor (p < or = 0.046).
Conclusion: Messenger RNA could be determined by the present PCR system in tumours assayed as negative by DCC method. Therefore, this sensitive PCR procedure, which requires small amounts of material may be very useful as a diagnostic test to determine the choice of therapy.