Showing papers by "Charles Huggins published in 1955"
TL;DR: Two small groups of steroids in the estrane series—here designated as impeded estrogens,—represent a class of compounds which differ from the majority of estrogenic substances in exerting certain unusual influences on growth of the uterus.
Abstract: Two small groups of steroids in the estrane series—here designated as impeded estrogens,—represent a class of compounds which differ from the majority of estrogenic substances in exerting certain unusual influences on growth of the uterus. The induction of these effects previously was considered to be peculiar to estriol. The unusual growth properties common to impeded estrogens are twofold: (a) after the threshold dosage required to initiate growth has been reached, the slope of the curve of increment of uterine weight in response to increased steroid dosage is very gradual rather than steep; (b) these compounds possess the ability to inhibit to a limited extent the uterine growth induced by estrone administered concurrently. The partial inhibition of estrone-induced growth of the uterus is confined to a critical dosage of the impeded estrogen and is overcome by increased dosage of the inhibitor. Estrone-induced growth of the vagina is not inhibited by impeded estrogens. Furthermore the simultaneous administration of impeded estrogens and testosterone does not lessen the amount of uterine growth evoked by the latter. The impeded estrogens so far encountered are 3-hydroxyestratriene derivatives possessing either a ketone group at position 6 or a hydroxyl group at position 16. Oxygenated functions at these positions in phenolic estrogens have special significance in the excitation and restraint of uterine growth unshared by similar groups at certain other sites of the estrane molecule.
143 citations
TL;DR: Surgical excision of the adrenal glands in patients maintained on cortisone has proved to be effective in producing regression of mammary cancer in certain cases.
Abstract: The treatment of mammary cancer by endocrine methods rests on the concept of hormonal dependence, which characterizes many of these neoplasms. It has been shown that some methods of alterations in endocrine balance can constitute effective palliation in many cases. Surgical castration and administration of sex steroids have been used as the chief therapeutic armamentarium for metastatic cancer of the breast in the past decade and a half. In 1951 an important method of treatment of the disease was introduced by the finding that in certain types of mammary cancer there is an adrenal component which sustains and propagates the disease.1Surgical excision of the adrenal glands in patients maintained on cortisone has proved to be effective in producing regression of mammary cancer in certain cases.* In his Hunterian lecture Cade11commented, "Bilateral adrenalectomy is an encouragement in the pursuit of an ideal which is to control cancer
59 citations
TL;DR: The cases at the Massachusetts General Hospital from 1914, the Collis P. Huntington Memorial Hospital from 1919, and the Pondville State Cancer Hospital have been examined to compare the results of these newer methods of therapy with the more standard methods.
Abstract: APPROXIMATELY 1% of all carcinomas of the breast occur in males.1Although the disease is uncommon, the addition in recent years of various types of hormonal therapy makes it advisable to review our cases and attempt to compare the results of these newer methods of therapy with the more standard methods. For this purpose the cases at the Massachusetts General Hospital from 1914, the Collis P. Huntington Memorial Hospital from 1919, and the Pondville State Cancer Hospital have been examined. The staffs of these three hospitals overlap, and so there has been a general uniformity in the management of the cases. MATERIAL STUDIED Seventy-five patients were available for clinical examination. Twenty-five of these had previously received some form of definitive therapy, whereas 50 had received no treatment other than biopsy. The patients were in all stages of the disease. Sixty of the 75 patients were actually treated in our
55 citations
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that the preputial glands of the hypophysectomized rat grow in response to steroids possessing the same molecular features which evoke growth in the prostate.
Abstract: IN THIS paper it will be demonstrated that the preputial glands of the hypophysectomized rat grow in response to steroids possessing the same molecular features which evoke growth in the prostate. Unlike the prostatic glands of the female rat, the preputial glands are constantly present. These giant sebaceous glands are useful indicators in the biological assay in the female rat of steroids with androgenic activity. There are important synergistic relationships between steroids and pituitary proteins in the promotion of growth so that hypophysectomy is necessary for the precise characterization of growth as induced by steroids. The growth promoting effects of steroids upon preputial glands have not been examined systematically. Korenchevsky, Dennison and Simpson (1935) discovered that both androsterone and androstenediol caused growth of the preputial glands whilst estrone neither induced growth nor blocked the stimulatory effects of androsterone. In addition Korenshevsky (1939) found that growth of the p...
51 citations
TL;DR: 9α-Flouro-11β-hydroxyprogesterone suppresses in part the growth of the adrenals, ovaries, and uterus in intact rats at a dose level which does not cause loss of body weight or inhibit body growth.
Abstract: Progesterone, 5-pregnene-3,20-dione, and desoxycorticosterone were found to be partial but significant inhibitors of estrone-induced growth of the uterus of hypophysectomized rats but they did not depress the amount of growth elicited by testosterone. The presence of both the 2-carbon side chain at position 17 and an oxygenated function at position 3 is necessary for the inhibitory activity of progesterone. The introduction of a hydroxyl group in the progesterone molecule at positions 6 (beta), 11 (alpha), 16 (alpha) or 17 (alpha) destroyed its growth-inhibitory activity. 11beta-Hydroxyprogesterone is weaker than progesterone in the inhibition of estrone-induced uterine growth; unlike progesterone it has the capacity to depress growth elicited by testosterone. The introduction of a flourine atom in the 9 (alpha) position resulted in a striking increase of the growth-inhibitory activity of 11beta-hydroxyprogesterone and hydrocortisone. 9alpha-Flouro-11beta-hydroxyprogesterone is a partial but significant inhibitor of growth of the uterus in hypophysectomized rats injected simultaneously with large doses of estrone or testosterone. It is more powerful than progesterone in transforming the vaginal epithelium to mucus cells in the presence of estrone. Administered alone, the only detectable growth was a slight increase in size of the preputial glands. 9alpha-Flouro-11beta-hydroxyprogesterone suppresses in part the growth of the adrenals, ovaries, and uterus in intact rats at a dose level which does not cause loss of body weight or inhibit body growth. Many rats treated with this compound in small amount had extensive mucification of the vagina resembling that of late pregnancy.
41 citations