Breast cancer years after hysterectomy and bilateral ovariectomy and increased androgenic activity

26 patients, in whom hysterectomy and bilateral ovariectomy had been performed for a gynecological indication several years before, were tested for urinary testosterone (by a gas chromatographic method) and interstitial cell-stimulating hormone (ICSH) (by a hemagglutination-inhibition method). 12 patients did not develop any pathology of the breast 8.1 +/- 2.2 years after ovariectomy (control group), and 14 patients developed breast cancer 13.0 +/- 3.0 years after ovariectomy (breast cancer group). The average number of years following ovariectomy did not differ significantly between the two groups. There was no significant difference in the mean values of testosterone and of ICSH excretion between the patients of the control group and those of the breast cancer group, but a significant proportion (6 out of 14) of the breast cancer group patients had a much higher testosterone excretion than the highest level (8.4 microgram/24 h) in patients of the control group. This incidence (42.8%) tested by the chi-square method was found to be significant (p less than 0.02).