Is aromatase cytochrome P450 involved in the pathogenesis of endometrioid endometrial cancer?
Jongen VH; Thijssen JH; Hollema H; Donker GH; Santema JG; Van der Zee AG; Heineman MJ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Medical Center of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. Prospectively, the relationship between androgen levels in the utero-ovarian circulation, aromatase activity in endometrial and body fat tissue, and the presence or absence of endometrioid endometrial cancer was studied in postmenopausal women. In 43 women with endometrioid endometrial cancer and 8 women with a benign gynecological condition, a hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy was performed. Using tritium water-release assays, aromatase activities in endometrial and body fat tissue were determined and related to the steroid levels from the peripheral and the utero-ovarian venous circulation (estradiol, androstenedione, testosterone) and to the presence or absence of endometrial cancer. Significant aromatase activity was found in both benign and malignant endometrial tissue sam
