Urinary free cortisol, cortisone, cortisol sulfate, cortisone sulfate and 17-ketosteroids in breast cancer
Stancáková, A.; Klimesová, Z.
Neoplasma 26(2): 205-213
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0028-2685 PMID: 157439 Document Number: 148798
The excretion of urinary free cortisol, cortisone, cortisol sulfate, cortisone sulfate and 11-oxy- and 11-deoxy-17-ketosteroids in 10 breast cancer patients between the ages of 28-45 was determined before and after mastectomy. The excreted amounts of free cortisol and cortisone before operation were not different from the levels obtained in 14 healthy women. Six months after mastectomy, increased excretion of free corticosteroids was registered in 9 patients. An enhanced excretion of cortisol sulfate and cortisone sulfate was observed 1/2 yr after mastectomy. The excretion of 17-ketosteroids, mainly etiocholanolone and androsterone, before mastectomy was still decreased. The relative proportion of dehydroepiandrosterone from the sum of 11-deoxy-17-ketosteroids was increased and remained elevated in the patients 1/2 yr after mastectomy. The ratios of free corticosteroids and corticosteroid sulfates to etiocholanolone + androsterone are elevated in patients with breast cancer before mastectomy; the further sharp increase of these ratios is evident in several cases even 6 mo. after mastectomy. The excretion of free corticosteroids and corticosteroid sulfates in relation to etiocholanolone and androsterone may be of prognostic value following the mastectomy.