Plausible Role of Estrogens in Pathogenesis, Progression and Therapy of Lung Cancer

Claudia Musial, Renata Zaucha, Alicja Kuban-Jankowska, Lucyna Konieczna, Mariusz Belka, Antonella Marino Gammazza, Tomasz Baczek, Francesco Cappello, Michal Wozniak and Magdalena Gorska-Ponikowska
Additional contact information
Claudia Musial: Department of Medical Chemistry, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-211 Gdansk, Poland
Renata Zaucha: Department of Clinical Oncology and Radiotherapy, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-214 Gdansk, Poland
Alicja Kuban-Jankowska: Department of Medical Chemistry, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-211 Gdansk, Poland
Lucyna Konieczna: Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-416 Gdansk, Poland
Mariusz Belka: Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-416 Gdansk, Poland
Antonella Marino Gammazza: Department of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics (BiND), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Tomasz Baczek: Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-416 Gdansk, Poland
Francesco Cappello: Department of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics (BiND), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Michal Wozniak: Department of Medical Chemistry, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-211 Gdansk, Poland
Magdalena Gorska-Ponikowska: Department of Medical Chemistry, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-211 Gdansk, Poland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 2, 1-15

Abstract: Malignant neoplasms are among the most common diseases and are responsible for the majority of deaths in the developed world. In contrast to men, available data show a clear upward trend in the incidence of lung cancer in women, making it almost as prevalent as breast cancer. Women might be more susceptible to the carcinogenic effect of tobacco smoke than men. Furthermore, available data indicate a much more frequent mutation of the tumor suppressor gene- p53 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) female patients compared to males. Another important factor, however, might lie in the female sex hormones, whose mitogenic or carcinogenic effect is well known. Epidemiologic data show a correlation between hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or oral contraceptives (OCs), and increased mortality rates due to the increased incidence of malignant tumors, including lung cancer. Interestingly, two types of estrogen receptors have been detected in lung cancer cells: ERα and ERβ. The presence of ERα has been detected in tissues and non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cell lines. In contrast, overexpression of ERβ is a prognostic marker in NSCLC. Herein, we summarize the current knowledge on the role of estrogens in the etiopathogenesis of lung cancer, as well as biological, hormonal and genetic sex-related differences in this neoplasm.

Keywords: estrogens; lung cancer; sex hormones; lung adenocarcinoma; estrogen receptor; 17?-estradiol; p53; A549; non-small cell lung cancer; NSCLC (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/648/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/648/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:2:p:648-:d:479992

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().