Hormones as Cancer Biomarkers

Among all the cancer biomarkers, hormones are less discussed despite having the ability to be used as potential biomarkers in the diagnosis and prognosis of various cancers. When a tissue, normally produces hormones in lesser quantity, produces a hormone in excess levels, then hormones can be used as tumour biomarkers. Sometimes it is also seen that a hormone is produced by the tissue, which is not normally associated with the secretion of that hormone. For example, calcitonin, a protein hormone produced by the thyroid gland, is reported to be increased in production in thyroid carcinoma. Another protein hormone, namely human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), is used as a biomarker in choriocarcinoma, testicular tumors, etc. On the other hand, a lower level of testosterone hormone is found in prostate cancer, indicating its role in prostate cancer prognosis. There are other peptidase and steroid hormones, such as insulin, glucagon, estrogen and progesterone which significantly contribute to various tumours and are used as valuable biomarkers in the diagnosis and prognosis. Taken into consideration, in this chapter, we discuss the roles of multiple peptides and steroid hormones in the diagnosis and prognosis of various cancer types. 

Keywords: Hormones, Biomarkers, Breast cancer, Cancers, Calcitonin, Choriocarcinoma, Diagnosis, Estrogen, Gastrin, Glucagon, Gonadotropin, Human chorionic gonadotrophin, Insulin, Prognosis, Peptide hormones, Progesterone, Prolactin, Steroid hormone, Thyroid cancer, Thyroid stimulating hormone, etc.