What Is Estrogen?

Dr. Craig Jordan answers the question: 'What is estrogen?'

By
V Craig Jordan, O.B.E., Ph.D., D.Sc., Vice President and Scientific Director for Medical Science, Fox Chase Cancer Center
May 8, 2008, 5:30 PM ET
1 min read

— -- Question: What is estrogen?

Answer: Estrogen is the potent female sex hormone made by the ovaries. It's essential for life; it controls reproduction. Without estrogen we would have no human race. But estrogen also has the capacity to stimulate some tumors to grow. Those tumors that have estrogen receptors will grow in response to circulating estrogen in a woman's body.

Next: What does estrogen do?

Previous: What is Avastin and when might it be used?