I was looking up some info about hormones and AN growth and came across a publication from the 1990s that I had not seen before.
Am J Otol. 1990 Jul;11(4):237-9.
Sex hormone receptors in acoustic neuromas.
Siglock TJ1, Rosenblatt SS, Finck F, House WF, Hitselberger WE.
Author information
1
Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, New York.
Abstract
We performed quantitative assays for estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone receptors in 19 acoustic neuroma specimens from ten men and nine women. No patient received preoperative or intraoperative glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids, or sex hormones. All tumors were unilateral and removed by the translabyrinthine approach. No tumor specimen was positive for estrogen or testosterone receptors. Three of ten men and seven of nine women had tumors positive for progesterone receptors (10 fmol/mg cytosol protein or greater). This between-sex difference was of borderline significance by the Mann-Whitney U test (p = 0.08). This finding indicates the need for further investigations of endocrinologic therapy as a possible treatment of acoustic neuromas.
The fact that ANs from females express progesterone receptors may account for why there is an increase in the incidence of ANs in pregnant women. This may also explain why Dr. Stankovic is exploring the use of mifepristone (which blocks the action of progesterone) as a possible drug treatment for ANs. At any rate, it suggests that older females with ANs should avoid the use of progesterone-based HRT.
