Beyond the C18 frontier: Androgen and glucocorticoid metabolism in breast cancer tissues: The role of non-typical steroid hormones in breast cancer development and progression

• Breast cancer growth and regulation is highly dependent on hormonal cues.
• We are only beginning to realise the diversity of the hormones that regulate carcinoma cells.
• Oestrogens are well documented and are already exploited as therapeutics.
• Targeting androgens may be the next steroid based therapeutic approach.
• Glucocorticoids are a potential avenue, although they need further investigation.

Breast cancer’s hormonal dependence is well known and has been so for a long time. However in the last two decades great advances have been made in understanding the local metabolism of steroids within tissue. In the form of aromatase inhibition this is already one of the mainstays of breast cancer therapy. This review aims to summarise briefly what is known in terms of the metabolism of C18 steroids but perhaps more importantly to touch on the new developments regarding the importance of the metabolism of androgens and glucocorticoids in breast tissue. It is our hope that this review should provide the reader with a “birds eye view” of the current state of knowledge regarding localised steroid metabolism in the breast.