Sex hormone imbalance in male alcoholic cirrhotic patients with and without hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

To investigate the possible role of sex‐hormone imbalance in hepatocellular carcinogenesis in male alcoholic cirrhotic patients, we determined plasma levels of testosterone (T), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), androstenedione (A), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA), estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), and sex‐hormone‐binding globulin (SHBG) in 15 men with alcoholic cirrhosis alone and in 15 similar men with alcoholic cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The groups were matched for age and severity of liver disease using Child‐Pugh scoring. Patients of both groups had evidence of hypogonadism with a decrease in plasma T levels (P < 0.02) and of hyperestrogenemia with an increase in E1 (P < 0.001), E2 (P < 0.01), and SHBG (P < 0.01) plasma levels compared with ten healthy age‐matched controls. Cirrhotic patients with HCC had significantly lower plasma concentrations of T (P < 0.02), DHT (P < 0.01), and DHA (P < 0.001) than patients with cirrhosis alone. However, the plasma concentrations of A, E1, E2, and SHBG did not significantly differ between these two groups. These results suggest a possible alteration of the estrogen‐to‐androgen ratio during carcinogenesis of the cirrhotic liver. This is shown by a greater reduction of circulating androgens and a similar elevation of estrogens in the group of cirrhotics with HCC.