Despite their historical use in prostate cancer treatment, our knowledge regarding the effects of estrogens on prostate, their role in cancer development and the mechanisms mediating their action as therapeutic agents is quite limited. The published literature mainly focuses on the effects of circulating estrone and estradiol in relation to prostate cancer Selleck MM-102 risk, providing inconsistent evidence [17, 18, 25, 26]. A wide variety of methodological issues ranging from the restricted sample size to possible bias introduced by uncontrolled sources of hormonal variability might provide a partial explanation

to the cited inconsistency. It is also plausible that the surmised exposures have not been captured over periods comparable by degree of prostate sensitivity to hormonal influences across the different studies. The lack of consideration for factors potentially relevant to the overall estrogenic activity, namely, hydroxylated metabolites of E1 and E2, might provide a further explanation that would integrate the aforementioned hypotheses. The dominating hydroxylation Selleckchem VX-680 pathway significantly

affects the biological activity of estrogen metabolites. Indeed, 16α-OHE1 binds with high affinity the estrogen receptor and exerts a strong estrogenic action that leads to increased cell proliferation and DNA synthesis [27, 28]. Conversely, 2-OHE1 exerts a weak agonist effect on the SB431542 mw oestrogen receptor and shows anti-angiogenic properties [29, 30]. Little epidemiologic

evidence exists with regard to the hypothesis investigated in the present study. Our previous study results support the association between elevated 2-OHE1 urinary levels and a reduced Pca risk (OR 0.83 95% CI 0.43-12.44), whereas elevated16α-OHE1 urinary levels are associated with increased MRIP risk (OR 1.69 95% CI 0.93-3.06, p for linear trend 0.002) [13]. In their case-control study, Yang and colleagues found no significant difference in the median levels of 2-OHE1 and 16α-OHE between the compared groups. However, the sample size was very limited and the number of cases extremely low [24]. In their cross-sectional study, Teas et al evaluated the variability of the urinary levels of 2-OHE1 and 16αOHE1 in a sample of African-American men attending prostate cancer screening clinics and investigated any possible relation of these two metabolites with PSA. They reported an overall significant reduction in 2-OHE1 per each 1.0 ng/ml increase in PSA [31]. Further evidence of the role of sex steroid hormones in prostate cancer emerges from studies focusing on the role played by estrogen metabolites in breast carcinogenesis. Several case-control and cohort studies show that women who metabolize a larger proportion of estrogens via the 16α-hydroxy pathway may be at a significantly higher risk of breast cancer compared to women who metabolize proportionally more estrogens via the 2-hydroxy pathway [16, 32–34].