| Sex steroids play an important role in the development and progression of breast cancer. 17β-HSD and 5a-reductase are the main enzymes involved in the last steps of androgen biosynthesis. 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 15 and 5α-reductase type 1 are involved in sex steroid metabolism. 17β-HSD type 15 catalyses the transformation of 4-dione into T, while 5a-reductase type 1 catalyses the formation of 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) from testosterone (T). Using immunocytochemistry, we have studied the expression of 17(3-HSD type 15 and 5α-reductase type 1 in 84 specimens of breast carcinoma and adjacent non-malignant tissues. The results were correlated with the androgen receptor (AR), estrogen receptor a (ERα), progesterone receptor B (PRB), CDC47 and with the tumor stage, tumor size, nodal status and menopausal status. 17β-HSD type 15 was expressed in 66.7% and 5α-reductase type 1 in 60.7% of breast cancer specimens. In adjacent normal tissues, both enzymes were highly expressed in almost all the patients. The expression of both enzymes was significantly lower (p < 0.001) in breast cancer than in normal adjacent tissues. The expression of AR was significantly higher (p < 0.01) in breast cancer than in normal adjacent tissues. The expression of PRB was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in breast cancer than in normal adjacent tissues. The percentage of tumors considered as positive for CDC47 was significantly higher than that of non-tumoral adjacent tissues (77.4% vs. 15.5%; p < 0.001).A significant correlation was observed between the 17β-HSD type 15 and 5a-reductase type 1 expression, (R=0.41367, p=0.0001); AR and Era (R=0.49497, P=0.0001); Era and CDC47 (R=0.22496, P=0.0397). The decrease in 17(3-HSD type 15 and 5a-reductase type 1 expressions in breast cancer may play a predominant role in the development and/or progression of the cancer by modifying the intratumoral levels of estrogens and androgens. |
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