An analysis of prior research published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology has identified estrone, the dominant estrogen present in women after menopause, as the key driver of the inflammation, tumor progression, and metastasis of estrogen receptor–positive (ER+) breast cancer in postmenopausal women with obesity. The analysis describes how estrone that is produced in adipose tissue may create a tumor-promoting environment that differs significantly from the effects of premenopausal 17β-estradiol.

According to lead author Joyce Slingerland, MD, PhD, co-leader of the Cancer Host Interaction Program at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, estrone’s emergence as the primary estrogen after menopause is central to understanding why ER+ breast cancer incidence and mo

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