Summary
This paper presents a quantitative review of the data from eight prospective epidemiological studies, comparing mean serum concentrations of sex hormones in men who subsequently developed prostate cancer with those in men who remained cancer free. The hormones reviewed have been postulated to be involved in the aetiology of prostate cancer: androgens and their metabolites testosterone (T), non-SHBG-bound testosterone (non-SHBG-bound T), di-hydrotestosterone (DHT), androstanediol glucuronide (A-diol-g), androstenedione (A-dione), dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), the oestrogens, oestrone and oestradiol, luteinizing hormone (LH) and prolactin. The ratio of the mean hormone concentration in prostate cancer cases to that of controls (and its 95% confidence interval (CI)) was calculated for each study, and the results summarized by calculating the weighted average of the log ratios. No differences in the average concentrations of the hormones were found between prostate cancer cases and controls, with the possible exception of A-diol-g which exhibited a 5% higher mean serum concentration among cases relative to controls (ratio 1.05, 95% CI 1.00–1.11), based on 644 cases and 1048 controls. These data suggest that there are no large differences in circulating hormones between men who subsequently go on to develop prostate cancer and those who remain free of the disease. Further research is needed to substantiate the small difference found in A-diol-g concentrations between prostate cancer cases and controls.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Change history
16 November 2011
This paper was modified 12 months after initial publication to switch to Creative Commons licence terms, as noted at publication
References
Adlercreutz, H. (1990). Western diet and western diseases: some hormonal and biochemical mechanisms and associations. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 50: 3–23.
Barrett-Connor, E., Garland, C., McPhillips, J. B., Khaw, K. T. & Wingard, D. L. (1990). A prospective, population-based study of androstenedione, estrogens and prostatic cancer. Cancer Res 50: 169–173.
Breslow, N., Chan, C. W., Dhom, G., Drury, R. A., Franks, L. M., Gellei, B., Lee, Y., Lundberg, S., Sparke, B., Sternby, N. H. & Tulinius, H. (1977). Latent carcinoma of the prostate at autopsy in seven areas. Int J Cancer 20: 680–688.
Carter, H. B., Pearson, J. D., Metter, E. J., Chan, D. W., Andres, R., Fozard, J. L., Rosner, W. & Walsh, P. C. (1995). Longitudinal evaluation of serum androgen levels in men with and without prostate cancer. Prostate 27: 25–31.
Comstock, G. W., Gordon, G. B. & Hsing, A. W. (1993). The relationship of serum dehydroepiandrosterone and its sulfate to subsequent cancer of the prostate. Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev 2: 219–221.
Devgan, S. A., Henderson, B. E., Yu, M. C., Shi, C. Y., Pike, M. C., Ross, R. K. & Reichardt, J. K. V. (1997). Genetic variation of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type II in three racial/ethnic groups:implications for prostate cancer risk. Prostate 33: 9–12.
Dorgan, J. F., Albanes, D., Virtamo, J., Heinonen, O. P., Chandler, D. W., Galmarini, M., McShane, L. M., Barrett, M. J., Tangrea, J. & Taylor, P. R. (1998). Relationships of serum androgens and estrogens to prostate cancer risk: results from a prospective study in Finland. Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev 7: 1069–1074.
Flanders, W. D. (1986). Case-control studies of selected hormones and prostate cancer: an epidemiological review. Alabama J Med Sci 23: 439–443.
Gann, P. H., Hennekens, C. H., Ma, J., Longcope, C. & Stampfer, M. J. (1996). Prospective study of sex hormone levels and risk of prostate cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 88: 1118–1126.
Guess, H. A., Friedman, G. D., Sadler, M. C., Stanczyk, F. Z., Vogelman, J. H., Imperato-McGinley, J., Lobo, R. A. & Orentreich, N. (1997). 5α-reductase activity and prostate cancer: a case-control study using stored sera. Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev 6: 21–24.
Henderson, B. E., Bernstein, L., Ross, R. K., Depue, R. H. & Judd, H. L. (1988). The early in utero estrogen and testosterone environment of blacks and whites: potential effects on male offspring. Br J Cancer 57: 216–218.
Hsing, A. W. & Comstock, G. W. (1993). Serological precursors of cancer: serum hormones and risk of subsequent prostate cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev 2: 27–32.
Montie, J. E. & Pienta, K. J. (1994). Review of the role of androgenic hormones in the epidemiology of benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer. Urology 43: 892–899.
Nomura, A. M. Y., Heilbrun, L. K., Stemmermann, G. N. & Judd, H. J. (1988). Prediagnostic serum hormones and the risk of prostate cancer. Cancer Res 48: 3515–3517.
Nomura, A. M. Y. & Kolonel, L. N. (1991). Prostate cancer: a current perspective. Am J Epidemiol 13: 200–207.
Nomura, A. M. Y., Stemmermann, G. N., Chyou, P. H., Henderson, B. E. & Stanczyk, F. Z. (1996). Serum androgens and prostate cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev 5: 621–625.
Parker, S. L., Tong, T., Boldon, S. & Wingo, P. A. (1996). Cancer statistics, 1996. Cancer J Clin 46: 5–27.
Parkin, D. M., Muir, C. S., Whelan, S. L., Gao, Y., Ferlay, J. & Powell, J. (1992). Cancer Incidence in Five Continents, Vol VI. IARC Scientific Publication No. 129. International Agency for Research on Cancer: Vol VI, Lyon, France
Reichardt, J. K. V., Makridakis, N., Henderson, B. E., Yu, M. C., Pike, M. C. & Ross, R. K. (1995). Genetic variability of the human SRD5A2 gene: implications for prostate cancer risk. Cancer Res 55: 3973–3975.
Ross, R. K., Bernstein, L., Judd, H., Hanisch, R., Pike, M. C. & Henderson, B. E. (1986). Serum testosterone levels in healthy young black and white men. J Natl Cancer Inst 76: 45–48.
Ross, R. K., Bernstein, L., Lobo, R. A., Shimizu, H., Stanczyk, F. Z., Pike, M. C. & Henderson, B. E. (1992). 5α-reductase activity and risk of prostate cancer among Japanese and US white and black males. Lancet 339: 887–897.
Shimizu, H., Ross, R. K., Bernstein, L., Yatani, R., Henderson, B. E. & Mack, T. M. (1991). Cancers of the breast and prostate among Japanese and white immigrants to Los Angeles County. Br J Cancer 63: 963–966.
Thomas, H. V., Reeves, G. K. & Key, T. J. A. (1997). Endogenous estrogen and postmenopausal breast cancer: a quantitative review. Cancer Causes Control 8: 922–928.
Vatten, L. J., Ursin, G., Ross, R. K., Stanczyk, F. Z., Lobo, R. A., Harvei, S. & Jellum, E. (1997). Androgens in serum and the risk of prostate cancer: a nested case-control study from the Janus serum bank in Norway. Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev 6: 967–969.
Vermeulen, A. & Verdonck, G. (1992). Representativeness of a single point plasma testosterone level for the long term hormonal milieu in men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 74: 939–942.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
From twelve months after its original publication, this work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
About this article
Cite this article
Eaton, N., Reeves, G., Appleby, P. et al. Endogenous sex hormones and prostate cancer: a quantitative review of prospective studies. Br J Cancer 80, 930–934 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bjc.6690445
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bjc.6690445
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Role of Estrogen in Androgen-Induced Prostate Carcinogenesis in NBL Rats
Hormones and Cancer (2019)
-
A Perspective on Prostate Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention
Current Pharmacology Reports (2015)
-
Epidemiological study of prostate cancer (EPICAP): a population-based case–control study in France
BMC Cancer (2014)
-
Epidemiologische Evidenz zur Prävention des Prostatakarzinoms durch körperliche Aktivität
Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift (2012)
-
Prolactin regulation of the prostate gland: a female player in a male game
Nature Reviews Urology (2011)