Abnormal Estrogen Conjugation in Women at Risk for Familial Breast Cancer at the Periovulatory Stage of the Menstrual Cycle

The present study was designed to establish whether women with a family history of breast cancer exhibit endocrine abnormalities which could be responsible for their increased risk for the disease. Plasma hormone levels were measured every second day throughout the menstrual cycle in 30 women at risk for familial breast cancer and in an equal number of matched controls. Thirteen of the 14 substances measured exhibited no differences between the two populations, but plasma androsterone sulfate was significantly lower in the high-risk subjects. Thirteen urinary hormones were measured every day throughout the cycle with only the mean estrone and estradiol glucuronide but not estriol glucuronide content being significantly lower in the high-risk subjects. A compensatory increase in the urinary estrogen sulfates was observed. Daily analysis of these differences showed that they were most pronounced in the periovulatory period of the cycle. These results suggest that the genetic risk for breast cancer is associated with an abnormality in estrogen conjugation at a specific time of the ovulatory cycle.