[Testosterone and prostatic cancer (author's transl)]

Hormono-dependent epithelial cells of the prostate gland loose their histologic and cytologic differentiation when becoming neoplastic. Such loss of differentiation is related to a change in testosterone metabolism measured by the testosterone metabolites ratio (17 beta-hydroxy/17-oxometabolites). This ratio decreases with differentiation losses and increasing independence from androgenic steroids. Knowledge of that ratio is suggested, prior to the starting of antiandrogenic therapies.