乳腺癌是女性排名第一的常見惡性腫瘤，是一種激素相關(guān)性疾病，暴露于雌激素是患乳腺癌一個重要的決定因素。而相關(guān)研究表明，干預雌激素的代謝過程，能夠達到有效防治乳腺癌的目的。在雌激素代謝過程中，2-羥基雌激素（2-OH E）、2-甲氧基雌激素（2-OMe E）、4-甲氧基雌激素（4-OMe E）為有利代謝產(chǎn)物，16-羥基雌激素（16-OH E）、4-羥基雌激素（4-OH E）為有害代謝產(chǎn)物。若提高2-OH E與16-OH E含量比，可有效防治乳腺癌。此外，提高兒茶酚鄰位甲基轉(zhuǎn)移酶活性用以防治乳腺癌也具有廣闊的前景。就近年來對于雌激素代謝過程和基于雌激素代謝防治乳腺癌的研究進展進行綜述。

Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor among women and is hormone dependent. Exposure to estrogen is an important determinant of breast cancer. Some related researches showed that the intervention of estrogenic metabolism process could be an effective means of prevention and treatment of breast cancer. In the metabolism process of estrogen, 2-OH E, 2-OMe E, and 4-OMe E are good metabolites while 16-OH E and 4-OH E are harmful. If we improve the ratio of 2-OH E to 16-OH E, the breast cancer could be prevented and treated effectively. In addition, increasing the activity of catechol-O-methyltransferase is also useful in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer which has broad prospects. Therefore, an overview of research on estrogen metabolism and its use in prevention and treatment of breast cancer has been given in recent years.