Thomas D B
Breast Cancer Res Treat. 1986;7 Suppl:S11-22.
Many epidemiologic features of breast cancer suggest that endogenous hormones are of importance in the genesis of this disease. Endocrinologic studies based on total levels of various hormones in serum and urine have provided etiologic clues, but have failed to yield a clear understanding of the hormonal aberrations that promote the development of breast cancer. One reason for this is probably that neither urinary hormones, nor total levels of serum hormones accurately reflect biologically active levels to which the cells of origin are exposed. Levels of hormones unbound to serum sex binding globulin may be of more etiologic relevance, and future studies utilizing measurements of such hormone fractions may provide new information of etiologic importance. Some risk factors for breast cancer, especially age at birth of first child, may influence risk by altering the susceptibility of mammary ductal epithelial cells to estrogens or other endogenous hormones by altering the level of hormone receptor proteins in these cells. Additional studies to identify the determinants of hormone receptors in the breast are needed to test this hypothesis.
乳腺癌的许多流行病学特征表明，内源性激素在该疾病的发生过程中具有重要作用。基于血清和尿液中各种激素总水平的内分泌学研究提供了病因线索，但未能对促进乳腺癌发展的激素异常情况形成清晰的认识。造成这种情况的一个原因可能是，尿液激素和血清激素总水平都无法准确反映起源细胞所接触到的生物活性水平。未与血清性结合球蛋白结合的激素水平可能与病因学更相关，未来利用此类激素组分测量的研究可能会提供具有病因学重要性的新信息。一些乳腺癌风险因素，尤其是头胎生育年龄，可能通过改变乳腺导管上皮细胞对雌激素或其他内源性激素的敏感性，即改变这些细胞中激素受体蛋白的水平，来影响风险。需要进行更多研究以确定乳腺中激素受体的决定因素，从而验证这一假设。
