Estrogen‐ and androgen‐responsive growth of human ovarian adenocarcinoma heterotransplanted into nude mice

Abstract

A new line of human serous cystadenocarcinoma of the ovary, designated OVA-5, has been established in athymic nude mice. A strong correlation was noted between tumor volume and plasma CA125 levels in mice bearing OVA-5 tumor. Growth of the OVA-5 tumor in castrated male nude mice was accelerated by s.c. administration of estradiol-17 beta and 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone but not by progesterone. Estradiol-17 beta and 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone also accelerated the growth of the OVA-5 tumor heterotransplanted into sialoadenectomized castrated male nude mice. No remarkable change was observed in the histological appearances of the tumors between control groups and hormone-treated groups. Receptor assays revealed that the OVA-5 tumor had both estrogen and androgen receptors. Growth of the OVA-5-tumor is thus responsive to estrogen and androgen.

Contrasting effects of 17 β‐estradiol on the growth of human ovarian carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo

“…Similar responses have been reported in other estrogenresponsive systems such as ER-positive breast xenografts (Shafie and Grantham, 1981). These data are also consistent with those of Sawada et al (1990) who demonstrated that growth of the ER-positive OXA-5 ovarian xenograft was lower in untreated male mice than in those receiving a dose of 17 P-estradiol (0.1 Fg/day). However, in contrast with the reported studies on breast cancer xenografts-in which administration of larger doses of exogenous 17 p-estradiol was associated with stimulation of growth and a reversal of the effects of castration-the experiments with the PE04 xenograft clearly showed that 17 P-estradiol produced a dose-related inhibition of tumor growth.…”

Epithelial ovarian cancer: testing the 'androgens hypothesis'

“…Androgen receptors have been detected in normal and neoplastic ovarian epithelial cells (Kuhnel et al 1987, Chadha et al 1993, Ilekis et al 1997, Cardillo et al 1998, Lau et al 1999, Modugno 2004), gonadotropins and androgens that stimulate the proliferation of normal and malignant human ovarian epithelial cells in vitro (Syed et al 2001, Edmondson et al 2002, Modugno 2004, Stewart et al 2004, and ovarian cancer cell growth is inhibited in vitro by antiandrogens (Slotman & Rao 1989). Animal experiments have demonstrated that testosterone can enhance the growth of ovarian epithelial tumours (Sawada et al 1990, Tennent et al 1993, Silva et al 1997.…”

p53 Autoantibodies in Patients with Primary Ovarian Cancer Are Associated with Higher Age, Advanced Stage and a Higher Proportion of p53-Positive Tumor Cells

“…In the present study, the average serum levels of CA125 were significantly higher in the p53-AAb-positive group compared to the AAb-negative group. As the CA125 level has been found to be related to tumor mass [25], large tumor burden may facilitate the induction of AAb possibly due to the higher probability of antigen and B-cell contact relative to the absolute number of p53 overexpressing tumor cells. Interestingly, p53 AAb were also detected in 3 of 6 patients with normal CA125 levels.…”