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Oestrogens and other biochemical and cytological components in nipple aspirates of breast fluid: relationship to risk factors for breast disease

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

Nicholas L. Petrakis
Nicholas L. Petrakis
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and International Health, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0560, U.S.A.
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Synopsis

The breast of the nonpregnant woman secretes, retains or reabsorbs a variety of endogenous and exogenous biochemical substances of potential physiological and clinical significance. Among these substances are steroid hormones, prolactin, growth hormones, and peptide growth factors. Because the concentrations of these hormones secreted into the breast ducts are often significantly higher than the concentrations in serum, the breast epithelium is commonly exposed to very high concentrations of steroid and other hormones which may play a role in the aetiology and pathogenesis of breast disease.

This paper presents a brief review of published data on the cytological and biochemical constituents of breast fluid obtained by nipple aspiration and data on factors affecting oestradiol and oestrone concentrations in breast fluid. Concentrations of oestradiol and oestrone in nipple aspirate fluid are much higher than in serum, not correlated with serum levels, much lower in women who recently have given birth or breast-fed their infants, not related to day in menstrual cycle, and higher in women with biopsied benign breast disease compared with nulliparous women without breast disease.

Further studies of the interrelationships of hormones, other biochemical constituents and the cytopathology of breast fluid may provide new insights into the pathophysiology and aetiology of breast diseases.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 95: Oestrogen and the Human Breast , 1989 , pp. 169 - 181
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1989

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