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Plasma Hormone Profiles in Populations at Different Risk for Breast Cancer¹

Naylor Dana Institute for Disease Prevention, American Health Foundation, Valhalla, New York 10595 [P. H., E. L. W.]; Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, Republic of South Africa [P. H., R. H.]; and McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada [G. R.]

Evidence suggests that the reliability of urinary androgens or estrogens as prognostic discriminants for breast cancer may vary with different populations and may bear little relation to changes in plasma hormone levels. In this study the plasma estradiol level was significantly lower in Bantu, but not in Caucasian, women with breast cancer, while the proportion of plasma androstenedione to dehydroepiandrosterone increased in Bantu patients. These changes in the plasma hormone profile in Bantu patients, a low-risk population for breast cancer, imply a change in ovarian and/or adrenal activity. Lack of similar hormone changes in Caucasian patients may be due to the initial differences in the hormone profile between healthy Caucasian and Bantu women and to the different environmental factors that promote the breast disease in Western women.

¹ This investigation was supported by Grant 012376, awarded by the National Cancer Institute, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

Received 12/16/75. Accepted 2/13/76.