Analysis of relations between serum levels of epitestosterone, estradiol, testosterone, IGF-1 and prostatic specific antigen in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia and carcinoma of the prostate.

Epitestosterone competes with testosterone for androgen receptors and inhibits several enzymes of steroidogenesis. Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) stimulate the growth of prostate cells and directly activate androgen receptors in prostatic tumor cell lines. The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) decreases the affinity of IGF-binding protein-3. The samples were collected from 71 patients suffering from various diseases of the prostate (56 patients without prostate cancer but with benign prostatic hyperplasia and 15 patients with prostate cancer). Correlations between age and IGF-1 (r = -0.281, p<0.05), age and serum epitestosterone (r = -0.261, p<0.05), estradiol and testosterone (r = 0.367, p<0.01), and between estradiol and epitestosterone (r = -0.414, p<0.001) were found. After age adjustment, IGF-I correlated with epitestosterone (r = -0.277, p<0.05). The age correlated positively with PSA (r = 0.286, p<0.05) and negatively with IGF-1 (r = -0.377, p<0.01) in partial correlations. PSA levels were higher in patients with prostate cancer (p<0.00001). Epitestosterone, which is negatively correlating with estradiol and IGF-1, may modulate the development of prostate diseases.