METAL–ANDROGEN INTERRELATIONSHIPS IN CARCINOMA AND HYPERPLASIA OF THE HUMAN PROSTATE

Studies were undertaken to examine the endogenous concentrations of zinc testosterone and 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) within the hypertrophic and neoplastic human prostate. The reported high incidence of carcinoma with cadmium prompted exploration of concentrations of cadmium in both types of prostatic tissue. Prostatic tissue was obtained from 23 patients aged 58-87 years with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and 9 patients aged 64-91 years with carcinoma of the prostate. None was receiving any form of hormonal therapy. For controls normal prostate tissue was obtained at autopsy from 9 men aged 25-58 years. Chemical methods employed are described. Zinc and cadmium concentrations were compared with the histological appearance of an adjacent serial section. There was no correlation between the concentrations of zinc or cadmium in either type of tissue (p greater than .1) despite the histological differences. Similar concentrations of zinc in both normal and BPH tissues were found. However in carcinoma tissue a marked decrease in zinc was found. The cadmium levels in BHT tissue were higher than those found in normal tissue and markedly increased in carcinomatous tissue. The concentrations of DHT in benign hypertrophy tissue and of testosterone and DHT in carcinoma tissues were inversely proportional to the levels of zinc in abnormal tissue. The DHT levels in both tissues were proportional to the cadmium concentrations.