Effects of estrogens on the testosterone levels of peripheral and spermatic vein blood in patients with prostatic cancer.
The mean testosterone levels of peripheral and spermatic vein blood in 16 patients with prostatic cancer who did not have estrogen therapy were 418.2 plus or minus 30.8 ng./dl. (mean plus or minus standard error) and 39.7 plus or minus 5.6 micrograms/dl., respectively. There were 13 patients with prostatic cancer who received estrogen therapy with daily doses of 30 mg. hexesterol or 300 mg. diethylstilbestrol diphosphate and who had decisive decreases of testosterone levels in peripheral (90.1 plus or minus 23.2 ng./dl.) and spermatic vein blood (3.3 plus or minus 1.2 migrogram/dl.). The rate of reduction of testosterone by estrogen therapy was one-tenth in the spermatic vein blood, while that in the peripheral blood was one-fifth. These data indicate that continuation of oral estrogens of these doses is sufficient to suppress the testicular androgens. On the other hand, the spermatic testosterone concentration was about 40 times higher than the peripheral testosterone concentration in patients receiving estrogen treatment. This result suggests that testosterone still is secreted from the testes under large therapeutic doses of estrogens.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013737:Testis / Q000098:blood supply*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*; D014680:Veins
D004967:Estrogens; D013739:Testosterone