Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity and estrogen receptors in human breast cancer.

Both estradiol receptors and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity (G6PDH) were measured on the same tissue sample from 143 patients who had undergone mastectomy for primary breast cancer. G6PDH activity in the estrogen receptor positive group (ER+) was higher than in the negative one (ER-). Moreover, the distribution of the enzymatic values in the ER+ group appeared to derive from two partially overlapped distributions. The authors suggest that only those ER+ tumors which show elevated G6PDH activity contain functional receptors. The determination of G6PDH activity at the time of mastectomy is proposed as an additional test in selecting those patients who would be likely to benefit from endocrine therapy.