Estrogens in breast tumors.

In this study of steroid chemistry in breast tumors conducted at St. Marys Hospital and King Edward Memorial Hospital in London the technique for the comparison of steroid concentrations involved constant intravenous infusions of radioactive tracer steroids of high specific activity. Infusions occurred for 3-6 hours just before surgery and during surgery until tissue sample removal. Testosterone or its metabolites showed no concentration in breast cancer tissue. On the other hand estradiol its metabolites or both showed high concentrations relative to concentrations in plasma in some malignant breast tumors. Among the benign breast lesions inspected a high tissue/plasma ratio of radioactivity after infusion with estradiol was seen in an intraduct papilloma. Mastitis a fibroadenoma and a lipoma from a breast had low ratios. Benign growths at other sites (intestinal polyp gastric ulcer a lump from an ear) showed no estrogen concentrations. Generally in tumors with either high or low estrogen concentrations most of the free steroid radioactivity was accounted for by estrone and estradiol. Tissue/plasma radioactivity ratio in cancer tissue showed no significant correlation with deoxyribonucleic acid or hydroxyproline. It is unknown whether estrogen concentration is related to either the growth rate or hormone dependence of tumors.