Comparable amounts of sex steroids are made outside the gonads in men and women: strong lesson for hormone therapy of prostate and breast cancer.
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| Abstract |
The objective of this study was comparison of circulating androgens and their metabolites as well as estrogens measured for the first time by a validated mass spectrometry technology in 60-80-year-old men and women of comparable age. Castration in men (n=34) reduces the total androgen pool by only about 60% as indicated by the decrease in the serum levels of the glucuronide metabolites of androgens compared to intact men (n=1302). Such data are in agreement with the 50 to 75% decrease in intraprostatic dihydrotestosterone (DHT) concentration after castration. Most interestingly, the same amounts of androgens and estrogens are found in postmenopausal women (n=369) and castrated men of comparable age. The most significant therapeutic implication of these findings is the absolute need to add a pure (nonsteroidal) antiandrogen to castration in men with prostate cancer in order to block the action of the 25 to 50% DHT left in the prostate after castration. Not adding an antiandrogen to castration in men treated for prostate cancer is equivalent to not prescribing a blocker of estrogens in women suffering from breast cancer because they are postmenopausal and have low circulating estradiol.
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| Authors | Fernand Labrie, Leonello Cusan, José Luis Gomez, Céline Martel, René Bérubé, Patrick Bélanger, Alain Bélanger, Liesbeth Vandenput, Dan Mellström, Claes Ohlsson |
| Journal | The Journal of steroid biochemistry and molecular biology (J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol) Vol. 113 Issue 1-2 Pg. 52-6 (Jan 2009) ISSN: 0960-0760 [Print] England |
| PMID | 19073258 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article) |
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