Hormone synthesis by primary breast carcinomas and prognosis in human breast cancer.

The ability of human breast carcinomas to convert pregnenolone to progesterone and dehydroepiandrosterone to delta 4-androstene-3,17-dione (delta 4) was investigated as a potential aid for prognosis, and the following observations were recorded. 1. Neither the amounts of progesterone or delta 4 synthesized nor delta 4/progesterone ratios correlated with tumour size or lymph node involvement. 2. delta 4 synthesis was lower in carcinomas from patients who had recurrences within 2 years of mastectomy than in carcinomas from those who remained free of metastases. 3. Life table analysis of the results indicated that these parameters appeared unlikely to be useful aids for prognosis.