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Estrogens increase the carcinogenic effects of tobacco smoke
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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The hormone estrogen may contribute to the development of lung cancer by enhancing the carcinogenic effect of tobacco smoke, which opens up the prospect of creating new methods of cancer treatment that will be aimed at changing the metabolism of the hormone.
The results of the mouse experiments were presented by scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Chicago, Illinois.
"Our study found a link between estrogen and tobacco smoke," explains study leader Jing Peng.
The authors found that in the lungs of healthy mice, estrogen is metabolized into toxic derivatives - carcinogenic 4-hydroxyestrogens (4-OHEs). 4-hydroxyestrogens activate processes associated with cell growth and promote the formation of free radicals that damage cells.
Levels of these cancer-causing metabolites increased when lab animals were exposed to tobacco smoke. In mice that passively inhaled tobacco smoke for eight weeks, levels of 4-hydroxy estrogens increased fourfold. "We are confident that these estrogen derivatives can damage lung cells and contribute to cancer," says Peng's co-author Margie Clapper.
After accounting for total estrogen levels, female mice had twice the 4-hydroxy estrogen levels in their lungs as male mice.
Whether estrogen has a similar effect in humans remains to be seen, but Peng says the findings suggest that blocking estrogen metabolism could stop or prevent lung cancer. Limited clinical trials of anti-estrogen drugs are already underway in lung cancer patients.
"We believe that in the future, it will be possible to develop a method to predict a person's risk of developing lung cancer based on the level of toxic estrogen metabolites," says Jing Peng. "If their levels are significantly elevated, it may mean that a person is more susceptible to lung cancer than others, and this is a bad prognosis. We would like this information to be used in developing personalized medicine approaches," she says.
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