Is Hormonal Induction of Prostate Carcinogenesis Due to Declining Androgens in Late Life and/or Increased Estrogen in Early Life
Abstract
The aim of this study was to identify if exposure to estrogen during the neonatal period increases the sensitivity of the prostate to hormonal induction of malignant and pre-malignant lesions in the adult. Co-administration of high concentrations of testosterone and estradiol can induce carcinogenesis in the prostate of mice including pathologies ranging from hyperplasia to dysplasia and carcinoma in situ. When administered to estrogen-deficient ArKO and wild-type mice (WT) mice showed an increased incidence of dysplastic pathologies compared to estrogen free ArKO mice suggesting that exposure to increased estrogen increases the risk of developing prostate cancer. Subsequently ArKO and WT mice were exposed neonatally to the synthetic estrogen DES, then in adulthood exposed to combined T+E treatment to induce carcinogenesis. T+E treatment induced dysplastic lesions in both DES and non-DES treated ArKO and WT mice however it was not possible to conclusively determine if neonatal estrogen exposure altered the susceptibility of the mouse prostate to carcinogenesis. The data arising from this study have demonstrated that increased estrogen does increase the susceptibility of the prostate to hormonal carcinogenesis however it remains to be determined if this is the result of altered estrogen exposure in neonatal life or adulthood.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA502503
Entities
People
- Stephen Mcpherson
Organizations
- Monash University