The role of testosterone in laryngeal carcinogenesis.

Testosterone levels in the plasma of 25 women and 25 men with carcinoma of the larynx and of 15 women and 15 men with hyperplastic aberrations in the laryngeal mucosa were determined to evaluate the etiologic relation between hyperplastic aberrations in the laryngeal mucosa (including cancer) and the male sex hormones. Patients with laryngeal cancer showed statistically significant increases in plasma testosterone levels compared with the control group. No statistically significant differences were found in plasma testosterone levels or in the testosterone/estradiol index between patients with hyperplastic aberrations of the laryngeal mucosa (including precancerous conditions) and the control subjects. The authors believe that greater attention should be paid to endogenous factors, particularly the male sex hormones, in further studies of the etiology of laryngeal carcinoma.