Estrogen metabolism in men.

In studies of men's capacity for estrogen inactivation in health and disease, it was observed that patients with prostatic cancer had enhanced ability to inactivate estrogenic hormones. This ability might well lead to excessive androgen stimulation, thereby providing favorable hormonal environment for the development of prostatic cancer. Extension or regression of the malignant process did not affect this peculiar pattern of estrogen metabolism. It is possible, therefore, that the pattern may not be related to the cancer process itself but to some inherent tendency in the individual. Upon speculation as to whether or not this tendency is found in the liver, which is known to be the principal site of estrogen inactivation, studies of patients with liver damage were carried out and the results indicated that the liver possesses a tremendous reserve for inactivation of the estrogens in men. Studies on estrogen concentration in the bile indicated that estrogens are not eliminated rapidly from the human body through the biliary tract. However, this does not hold true for experimental animals. Observations on endogenous estrogen excretion in men did not support the concept that benign prostatic hypertrophy is due to an elevated estrogen-androgen ratio.