Abstract
Estrogens behave as protective agents on the development of colorectal cancer, and hormonal-replacement therapy is associated with an increased survival rate in women with this disease, indicating that estrogenic therapy correlates with a better prognosis. The protective effect of estrogens on Fcolorectal cancer development and progression is presumably related to the expression of estrogen receptors in colon mucosa, with the estrogen receptor-β isoform being the predominant one. This observation suggests that estrogen receptor-β could have an inhibitory effect on colorectal cancer cell proliferation and a regulatory effect on colonic mucosa cell growth, opening the discussion on a pharmacologic approach to colorectal cancer prevention and therapy based on estrogenic compounds.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.