Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 1, 2026

Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping and Biopsy for Endometrial Cancer at Early Stage with Laparoscopy
Published on: August 19, 2021
Blood steroids are associated with prognosis and fat distribution in endometrial cancer
Ingvild L Tangen1, Kristine E Fasmer2, Gonda F Konings3
1Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Centre for Cancer Biomarkers CCBIO, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Background:
Despite being a hormone dependent cancer, there is limited knowledge regarding the relation between level of steroids in blood and prognosis for endometrial cancer (EC) patients.
Methods:
In this study we investigated plasma levels of 19 steroids using liquid-chromatography tandem mass-spectrometry in 38 postmenopausal EC patients, 19 with long, and 19 with short survival. We explored if estradiol levels were associated with specific abdominal fat distribution patterns and if transcriptional alterations related to estradiol levels could be observed in tumor samples.
Results:
The plasma steroid levels for DHEA, DHEAS, progesterone, 21 OH progesterone and E1S were significantly increased (all p < 0.05) in patients with long survival compared to short. Estradiol levels were significantly positively correlated with visceral fat percentage (p = 0.035), and an increased expression of genes involved in estrogen related signaling was observed in tumors from patients with high estradiol levels in plasma.
Conclusion:
Several of the identified plasma steroids represent promising biomarkers in EC patients. The association between increased estradiol levels and a high percentage of visceral fat indicates that visceral fat is a larger contributor to estradiol production compared to subcutaneous fat in this population.
Related Concept Videos
Drug Distribution: Volume of Distribution
F Distribution
Fats as Energy Storage Molecules
Distributed Loads
For example, consider a bookshelf filled with books stacked vertically adjacent to each other. The weight of the books is evenly distributed over the length of the shelf. As a result, the pressure at different locations on the surface of the...
Volume of Distribution
Uniform Distribution
Two essential properties of this distribution are

