Objective:To analyze the levels of endogenous sexual steroids and gonadotrophin in women with and without endometrial cancer. Methodology:We developed a clinical comparative study on 20 postmenopausal women with endometrial cancer and 20 postmenopausal women without endometrial cancer. The age, the postmenopausal time and the index of body mass were used as matching variables. The plasma levels of the endogenous sexual steroids were measured using radioimmunoassay and immunoenzymatic methods. For the statistic analysis we used the Student's t test. Results: The levels of androstenedione (A), total testosterone (t) and free testosterone (TL) were higher in the women with endometrial cancer, and those of the luteinic hormone (LH) were significantly lower values in these women. We also observed that the ratio (E1/A) showed significantly lower in the group of women with cancer, while the ratio (E2/E1) did not present any differences between groups. Conclusions: We emphasize the potentiality of sexual steroids and gonadotrophins in the genesis of endometrial adenocarcinoma in postmenopausal women.
Menopause; Endometrium; Cancer; Estrogen; Androgen; Hormone dosage
