Affiliations: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Ain
Shams University, Cairo, Egypt | Oncology Diagnostic Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Ain
Shams University, Cairo, Egypt | Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams
University, Cairo, Egypt
Note: [] Chemistry Dept., Faculty of Education, King Faisal University,
P.O.Box 1759, Al-Hassa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Abstract: The ability of breast tumors to synthesize sex steroid hormones is
well recognized and their local production is thought to play a role in breast
cancer development and growth. The aim of this study was to estimate local
intra-tumoral and circulating levels of Estrone (E_1),
Estrone Sulfate (E_1S), Estradiol (E_2),
Estriol (E_3), and Testosterone (T) in 33 pre- and
postmenopausal women with primary breast cancer in comparison to 12 pre- and
postmenopausal women with benign breast tumors. The mean levels of the studied
sex hormones were higher in serum and tumor tissue of breast cancer women than
those with benign breast tumors apart from Testosterone which showed a
significant decrease in pre- and postmenopausal women with breast cancer
(P<0.001for follicular phase, P<0.05 for
luteal phase, and P<0.005 for postmenopausal). The levels of
the five hormones were significantly higher intra-tumoral than in serum of both
benign and malignant breast tumor women with E_1S as the
predominant estrogen. There was only a positive significant correlation between
serum and tumor tissue levels of E_1 (rs=0.52,
P<0.05 for follicular; rs=0.63, P<0.05 for luteal
and rs=0.58, P<0.05 for postmenopausal) and a significant
correlation between serum and tumor tissue of T (rs=0.64,
P<0.05 for follicular; rs=-0.51, P<0.05 for
luteal and rs=-0.81, P<0.04 for postmenopausal).
Keywords: menopause, breast cancer, estrone, estrone sulfate, estradiol, estriol, and testosterone
Journal: Disease Markers, vol. 16, no. 3-4, pp. 151-157, 2000
