Overproduction of aromatase may be responsible for speeding breast cancer development
Many women buy Tamoxifen to slow the progression of breast cancer, which may be more likely to develop in patients who naturally produce excess amounts of an enzyme called aromatase in their breasts.
Many women buy Tamoxifen to slow the progression of breast cancer, which may be more likely to develop in patients who naturally produce excess amounts of an enzyme called aromatase in their breasts. This was the latest finding of an animal study from the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, which appears in the current issue of the journal Cancer Research.
According to lead investigator Priscilla Furth and her team, overproduction of aromatase - which converts testosterone into estrogen - may even be a more vital part of inducing breast cancer development than excess estrogen production.
"We know that estrogen is the fuel that most breast tumors use to grow, and this study shows us that making more estrogen in the breast, right next to cells that can use the hormone as fuel, appears to be a key trigger of early breast cancer," Furth, a professor of oncology and medicine at Georgetown Lombardi, explained. "This study appears to help inform a longstanding controversy about whether it is systemic estrogen or estrogen produced in the breast that is the primary risk factor for breast cancer."
She added that one day, a test may be available that can determine individual levels of aromatase in postmenopausal women.
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