Estrogen metabolism: why it’s so crucial to keep the balance?

Abstract

Aim. To analyze and systematize the available information on pathogenetic mechanisms of hormonal carcinogenesis. Materials and methods. The review includes data from foreign articles published in PubMed and Medline and national works posted on elibrary.ru over the past 20 years. Results. Currently, the term estrogen is often used in the context of hormonal carcinogenesis. According to most researchers, it should not fit into the narrow framework of receptor-mediated proliferation induced by estrogens in target tissues. The concept of estrobiome as a combination of all mechanisms providing the realization of estrogen effects should include not only hormones and native receptors themselves, but also the enzymes involved in their synthesis, estrogen metabolites, intestinal microbiota, as well as genetic and epigenetic factors. Conclusions. When analyzing cancer risk, it is necessary to comprehensively assess contributing factors and hormonal-metabolic preconditions for neoplastic process.

Keywords

• carcinogenesis
• estrogen
• estrogen metabolites
• estrogen receptors
• microbiome