Sex hormones and cancer progression

A paper published recently in the Journal of Clinical Oncology is a reminder of the importance of hormones on cancer progression that must be carefully considered by both clinician and patient. The authors set out to:

"...review the influence of sex hormones on the progression of breast, prostate, gynecologic, and colorectal cancer."

The authors' investigation encompassed a review of studies offering evidence of the impact of basal levels of androgens and estrogens on a range of cancers along with the effect of hormone withdrawal or antagonism of host steroids. Their conclusions need to be borne in mind by doctors and patients alike:

"Demonstration of the correlation of the completeness of withdrawal with clinical outcome together with direct evidence of progression from studies looking at the influence of tissue and circulating levels of sex hormones more recently in conjunction with gene expression profiles all provide compelling evidence for the involvement of steroids in the progression of disease. The involvement of steroids in the progression of cancer in hormone-sensitive tissues is well established and an important target for therapy."