HORMONAL MARKERS OF AGING IN MEN WITH LARYNGEAL CARCINOMA Pawel Jo ´z ´ko ´ w, MD, PhD, 1 Marek MBdras ´, MD, PhD, 1 Tomasz KrBcicki, MD, PhD, 2 Maria Zalesska-KrBcicka, MD, PhD 2 1 Department of Endocrinology and Diabetology, Wroclaw Medical University, ul. Pasteura 4, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland. E-mail: jozkow@mp.pl, pjozkow@wp.pl 2 Department of Otolaryngology, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland Accepted 20 August 2004 Published online 24 January 2005 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/hed.20143 Abstract: Background. Cancer of the larynx, a frequent neo- plasm in older people, occurs several times more often in men than in women. Surprisingly, the highest incidence of the disease is observed in the period in which concentrations of a num- ber of hormones (eg, androgens, growth hormone) decrease. Our objective was to look for differences in hormonal markers of aging between men with laryngeal carcinoma and healthy control subjects. Methods. Seventy-eight men with cancer of the larynx and 51 healthy age-matched controls were recruited for the study. In each of the examined men, serum concentrations of total tes- tosterone, free testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, dehydroepian- drosterone sulfate, steroid-hormone binding globulin, estradiol, and insulin-like growth factor type 1 (IGF-1) were determined. Results. Men with laryngeal carcinoma had lower serum con- centrations of IGF-1 (136 F 75 vs 318 F 141 ng/mL, p < .000001), lower free testosterone (11.95 F 5.38 vs 15.48 F 4.96 pg/mL, p < .001), and lower dihydrotestosterone/total testosterone ra- tio (0.07 F 0.06 vs 0.09 F 0.04, p < .05) than healthy controls had. Conclusions. Somatopause seems to be more evident in men with laryngeal carcinoma than in age-matched controls. In our observation, low concentration of IGF-1 predicted the pres- ence of laryngeal carcinoma more than low concentration of free testosterone did. A 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 27: 243 – 247, 2005 Keywords: laryngeal carcinoma; male aging; testosterone; dihydrotestosterone; DHEA-S; estradiol; SHBG; IGF-1 Cancer of the larynx is one of the most frequent neoplasms in men. 1 The disease occurs several times more often in males than in females. 1–3 The highest incidence of the malignancy is observed in the fifth and sixth decades of life, the period during which concentrations of most hormones decrease. 4–7 It seems especially intriguing in the context of well-known androgen dependency of the vocal organ (resemblance with prostate cancer). 8,9 Although the role of hormonal status in the eti- ology of laryngeal carcinoma has been postulated in the literature, studies performed so far have been inconclusive. 10 – 13 The purpose of the study was to investigate plasma levels of several markers of aging (total testosterone, free testosterone, dihydrotestoster- one [DHT], dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate Correspondence to: P. Jo ´z ´ko ´w Contract grant sponsor: Wroclaw Medical University (No. 658) B 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hormonal Status in Laryngeal Carcinoma HEAD & NECK March 2005 243