Sex steroids and their receptors in patients with tumors of the pancreas

A tendency toward an increase in serum content of sex steroid-binding globulin and a decrease in the total concentration of testosterone and its free and globulin-bound fractions and in the index of free androgens was observed in patients with pancreatic cancer. There were no statistically significant differences in baseline serum levels of hypophyseal hormones and prolactin in male patients and in the control. One or both types of steroid hormone receptors, the content of androgen receptors being higher than that of estrogen receptors, varying in a wide range were detected in 71% of the patients with malignant neoplasms. The occurrence of steroid hormone receptors was higher in adenocarcinomas, while their content was significantly higher in normal pancreatic tissues. The occurrence of androgen receptors was higher in male patients at the early stages of the disease, predominantly in highly differentiated adenocarcinomas located in the body of the pancreas. The content of androgen receptors was higher in male patients, in metastasizing tumors, in adenocarcinomas located in the body of the pancreas, and in patients without clinical and laboratory evidence of the mechanical jaundice syndrome. The content of androgen receptors positively correlated with the maximum size of the tumor.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]