Aromatase

Aromatase is an enzyme that plays a crucial role in the production of estrogen, a hormone that is important for many processes in the body. Aromatase is part of the cytochrome P450 superfamily of enzymes and is encoded by the CYP19A1 gene in humans.

Function

Aromatase is responsible for a key step in the biosynthesis of estrogens. It converts androstenedione to estrone and testosterone to estradiol. This conversion is an important component of the steroidogenesis pathway.

Clinical significance

Aromatase is a target for treatment of breast cancer and ovarian cancer because it produces estrogen, which can stimulate the growth of some types of cancer cells. Aromatase inhibitors are drugs that block the action of aromatase and are used to treat these types of cancer.

Aromatase inhibitors

Aromatase inhibitors are a class of drugs used in the treatment of breast cancer and ovarian cancer in postmenopausal women. They work by blocking the enzyme aromatase, which turns the hormone androgen into small amounts of estrogen in the body. This means that less estrogen is available to stimulate the growth of hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer cells.

Aromatase inhibitors cannot stop the ovaries from making estrogen, so aromatase inhibitors are mainly used to treat postmenopausal women. However, because aromatase inhibitors are so much more effective than tamoxifen in postmenopausal women, researchers wondered if they could also help premenopausal women.

See also

• Estrogen
• Breast cancer
• Ovarian cancer
• Aromatase inhibitors
• CYP19A1
• Androstenedione
• Estrone
• Testosterone
• Estradiol
• Steroidogenesis

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