Endocrine Abstracts

Ovarian cancer is the most fatal of all gynaecological malignancies. EOC accounts for >90% of malignant ovarian tumours and is thought to originate mostly from OSE cells. Epidemiological data suggest EOC is oestrogen responsive and we previously showed active oestrogen could be produced locally by EOC cells, but not by normal OSE cells, through the combined activities of steroid sulfatase (STS) and 17βhydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. We now investigate if EST, which conv...

At least 90% of human ovarian cancers originate in the OSE. Most studies indicate that EOC is oestrogen responsive. Paradoxically, ovarian cancer generally occurs after the menopause, which raises the question if oestrogen is involved, where does it come from? We hypothesise that the high circulating concentrations of conjugated (inactive) oestrogens in post-menopausal women are substrates for formation of active oestrogen in the OSE through the hydrolytic enzyme activity of S...