ROLE OF ANDROGENS IN BREAST-CANCER

There is a vast amount of information on the concentration of differen t androgens in human breast cancer in pre- and post-menopausal women. Many years ago it was suggested that some androgens, in particular deh ydroepiandrosterone (DHA), could be one of the parameters to establish whether these androgens can predict breast cancer. However, the enorm ous data available on the plasma and tissue concentrations, particular ly of DHA and DHA sulfate (DHA-S) allow confirmation that the quantita tive values of these androgens are not significantly different in norm al women from those with breast cancer. Another important aspect of an drogens in breast cancer is their function as precursors of estrogens, hormones which play an important role in breast cancerization. Howeve r, it is not clear at present what the quantitative contribution of an drogens ''via aromatase'' is to the formation of estrogens, because mo re recently it was found that estradiol in breast cancer tissues origi nates mainly ''via sulfatase'' using estrone sulfate as precursor. A p oint of further interest is that a series of authors have demonstrated that the administration of DHA to experimental animals with breast ca ncer significantly decreased the evolution of the disease. This part o f the data is also contradictory because other experimental informatio n has shown that administration of DHA can increase the incidence of g ranulosa cell tumors. Finally, it has been suggested that androgens, i n their capacity as anti-estrogens, can be used to substitute anti-est rogens in cases where treatment with classical anti-estrogens has no r esponse. In conclusion, more information concerning the plasma and tis sular concentrations of androgens, their contribution as estrogen prec ursors and their biological response(s), is needed in order to have a clearer idea of the role of these steroids in breast cancer.