Epidermal growth factor and transforming growth factor α concentrations in BPH and cancer of the prostate: their relationships with tissue androgen levels

• Published in: British journal of cancer Vol. 67; no. 1; pp. 152 - 155
• Main Authors: YANG, Y, CHISHOLM, G. D, HABIB, F. K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basingstoke Nature Publishing Group 01.01.1993
• Subjects: Androgens - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Dihydrotestosterone - metabolism; Epidermal Growth Factor - metabolism; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Nephrology. Urinary tract diseases; Prostatic Hyperplasia - metabolism; Prostatic Neoplasms - metabolism; Prostatic Neoplasms - pathology; Testosterone - metabolism; Transforming Growth Factor alpha - metabolism; Tumors of the urinary system; Urinary tract. Prostate gland; Urinary system disease; Androgen; Transforming growth factor; Cytokine; Malignant tumor; Prostatic disease; Epidermal growth factor; Polypeptide; Correlation analysis; Alpha-Peptide chain; Benign neoplasm; Male genital diseases; Prostate
• ISSN: 0007-0920; 1532-1827
• DOI: 10.1038/bjc.1993.26

We measured immunoreactive EGF and TGF alpha in prostate tissue extracts obtained from 19 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and 19 with cancer of the prostate (CaP). Whilst both BPH and CaP expressed EGF (BPH = 195.61 +/- 19.94 ng g-1 protein; CaP = 235.60 +/- 24.45 ng g-1 protein) and TGF alpha (BPH = 92.57 +/- 7.60 ng g-1 protein; CaP = 100.73 +/- 15.47 ng g-1 protein) in equal concentrations, the levels of EGF in any tissue extract were on average twice those of TGF alpha. Furthermore analysis of the individual growth factor data revealed a direct correlation between EGF and TGF alpha in both BPH (r = 0.72, P < 0.001) and CaP (r = 0.69, P < 0.001). When the tumours were classified according to their Gleason score, a slight but significant increase in growth factor concentrations was noted as the tumour became less differentiated. We also measured the concentrations of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in prostate extracts with a view of elucidating the relationship between androgen and growth factors in this gland. There was a small positive correlation only between testosterone and EGF (r = 0.62, P < 0.05) and testosterone and TGF alpha (r = 0.61, P < 0.05) in CaP. The absence of any similar correlation in BPH where DHT becomes the predominant hormone may suggest an indirect role for testosterone in the regulation of growth factor production.