Steroid metabolism by human breast and rat mammary carcinomata

The metabolism of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA) and testosterone by both human breast carcinomata and dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA)-induced rat mammary carcinomata has been investigated.The rat and human carcinomata converted DHA to testosterone and both DHA and testosterone to 5α-dihydrotestosterone, 5α-androstanediol and 16α-hydroxytestosterone. Tentative evidence is also presented to indicate that some rat adenocarcinomata can convert androgen precursors into estradiol-17β.Although quantitative differences between incubations occurred, the spectrum of steroid transformations was similar in both human and rat tumours. The DMBA-induced rat tumour may therefore prove to be a valuable experimental model for human carcinoma tissue with regard to further steroidogenic studies.