Responses of serum levels of testicular steroid hormones to hCG stimulation in patients with prostatic cancer and benign prostatic hypertrophy.

Serum levels of testosterone (T), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), androsterone (A), 5 alpha-androstane-3 alpha, 17 beta-diol (5 alpha-diol) and estradiol-17 beta (E2) were measured by radioimmunoassay in the sera of 9 patients with untreated prostatic cancer and in 11 with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). Basal levels and responses to hCG stimulation were investigated. Although no specific changes in steroid hormone levels in either disease group were found, response patterns of serum T, DHT, and E2 were shown to be those characteristic of male senescence, suggesting a relative predominance of estrogens over androgens. Neither 5 alpha-diol nor A exhibited appreciable responses to hCG stimulation in our study.