ESTROGEN METABOLISM AND HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS-INDUCED TUMORS OF THE LARYNX - CHEMO-PROPHYLAXIS WITH INDOLE-3-CARBINOL

A relationship was established between estradiol 16alpha-hydroxylation , papillomavirus and its malignant sequelae (1). In this study, we det ermined that 16alpha-hydroxylation was substantial in normal larynx an d further increased in laryngeal papillomas. Estradiol or 16alpha-hydr oxyestrone stimulated proliferation in both kinds of cells while 2-hyd roxyestrone was antiproliferative. Indole-3-carbinol, which induces 2- hydroxylation, abrogated the proliferative effects of estradiol. In im munocompromised mice, papilloma cysts formed in HPV-11 infected laryng eal tissue implanted under the renal capsules in 100% of control mice but only in 25% of mice fed indole-3-carbinol.