Peripheral and Ovarian Venous Concentrations of Estradiol and Progesterone in Postmenopausal Women with “Non‐Endocrine” Ovarian Tumors

Abstract

Estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4) levels in peripheral venous blood were measured in 45 postmenopausal (more than 5 years after menopause) women with ovarian neoplasms. The E2 and P4 concentrations in ovarian venous blood were also measured in 26 of these 45 patients. The steroid levels were compared with the values in 10 postmenopausal women without ovarian tumors. In peripheral venous blood, relatively high E2 concentrations were found in 24 of the 45 (53%) postmenopausal patients with ovarian tumors, and relatively high P4 concentrations were noted 15 of 45 (33%) of the patients. In ovarian venous blood, relatively high values of E2 were found in 18 of 26 (69%) of the postmenopausal patients, and relatively high values of P4 were noted in 11 of these 26 (42%). No differences in the E2 and P4 levels in peripheral and ovarian venous blood were noted between the patients with benign tumors and those with malignant tumors. These results suggest that some of the epithelial ovarian tumors in postmenopausal women have steroid-producing activity.