Noguchi T, Kitawaki J, Tamura T, Kim T, Kanno H, Yamamoto T, Okada H
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan.
J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 1993 Mar;44(4-6):657-60. doi: 10.1016/0960-0760(93)90275-2.
Aromatase activity, as well as steroid receptors, exists in nonfunctional ovarian tumors. Steroid receptor status has been reported to be related to prognosis in ovarian cancer patients. We determined aromatase activity and progesterone receptor (PR) and estrogen receptor (ER) levels in 43 ovarian tumors obtained from postmenopausal women. Aromatase activity was detected in 35 tumors (81%), PR in 21 tumors (49%) and ER in 13 tumors (30%). Eighty-three percent (10/12) of mucinous cystadenoma tissues showed positive PR with high aromatase activity, while 93% (13/14) of malignant tumors showed negative PR and low aromatase activity. Aromatase activity was detected in 95% (20/21) of PR-positive tumors, being greater than in PR-negative tumors (P < 0.002). There was a positive correlation between aromatase activity and PR (rs = 0.49, P < 0.001). However, there was no correlation between aromatase activity and ER. In 17 patients (43%), the serum estradiol level was higher than 30 pg/ml and there was a positive correlation among estradiol, estrone, androstenedione and testosterone. However, serum steroid levels were not correlated with aromatase activity, PR or ER. Aminoglutethimide inhibited aromatase activity of benign and malignant ovarian tumors, uterine myoma, choriocarcinoma cells and purified human placental P-450arom in a similar manner. These results suggest that aromatase activity is correlated with PR in ovarian tumors of postmenopausal women. In addition to steroid receptor status, aromatase activity may be a useful prognostic factor in ovarian cancers.
芳香化酶活性以及类固醇受体存在于无功能的卵巢肿瘤中。据报道，类固醇受体状态与卵巢癌患者的预后相关。我们测定了43例绝经后妇女卵巢肿瘤中的芳香化酶活性、孕激素受体（PR）和雌激素受体（ER）水平。在35例肿瘤（81%）中检测到芳香化酶活性，21例肿瘤（49%）中检测到PR，13例肿瘤（30%）中检测到ER。83%（10/12）的黏液性囊腺瘤组织PR呈阳性且芳香化酶活性高，而93%（13/14）的恶性肿瘤PR呈阴性且芳香化酶活性低。在95%（20/21）的PR阳性肿瘤中检测到芳香化酶活性，高于PR阴性肿瘤（P<0.002）。芳香化酶活性与PR之间存在正相关（rs=0.49，P<0.001）。然而，芳香化酶活性与ER之间无相关性。17例患者（43%）血清雌二醇水平高于30 pg/ml，雌二醇、雌酮、雄烯二酮和睾酮之间存在正相关。然而血清类固醇水平与芳香化酶活性、PR或ER均无相关性。氨鲁米特以类似方式抑制良性和恶性卵巢肿瘤、子宫肌瘤、绒毛膜癌细胞及纯化的人胎盘P-450芳香化酶的芳香化酶活性。这些结果表明，绝经后妇女卵巢肿瘤中芳香化酶活性与PR相关。除类固醇受体状态外，芳香化酶活性可能是卵巢癌一个有用的预后因素。
