Objective: To investigate whether or not estrogen receptor and other sex hormone receptors are present in hemangioma tissues of children.
Methods: Fifty-two specimens of hemangiomas were taken from 52 children. The specimens were doubly stained with hematoxylin-eosin and enzyme-linking affinity immunohistochemistry. The prepared tissue slides were observed under the microscope to search for estrogen receptors (ER), progestogen receptors (PR) and androgen receptors (AR) in all the cells.
Results: ER, PR and AR were detected in various kinds of hemangiomas. The mean positive cell rate of each sex hormone receptor in different hemangioma tissues revealed no significant distinction in statistics (P > 0.05).
Conclusions: The results suggest that hemangiomas are one of the target tissues of estrogen. Estrogen, ER, PR, and AR may play an important role in the growth and development of hemangiomas.