The Reproductive Endocrine Research Laboratory, part of the Keck School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, recently gained international recognition for its expertise in measurements of steroid hormones in blood and tissues.

The lab was chosen by the International Breast Cancer Study Group as the core lab to measure estrogens for their phase III Study of Letrozole Extension. It is also currently involved in measurements of estrogens and androgens in breast and prostate tissues for collaborative studies with investigators at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Frank Stanczyk, PhD, professor of research in the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Preventive Medicine, directs the lab, and he recently played an important role as member of a steering committee of national experts and speakers at a workshop on estrogen exposure and cancer in Bethesda, MD.  He presented data on the relationship between normal and cancerous breast tissue and circulating sex steroid hormone levels.

Stanczyk is a consultant for the NCI Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, and a national member of the Partnership for the Accurate Testing of Hormones, which is advising the Center for Disease, jointly with the Endocrine Society, on standardization of steroid hormone measurements.