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Time Series of Hair Estradiol During Hormone Suppression Therapy for Breast Cancer Treatment as Measured by HPLC-MS/MS

CSEF · 2026 Medicine & Physiology (Senior Division)

Eleanor Lee

Overview

This experiment uses high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy (HPLC-MS/MS) to measure estradiol changes in hair due to hormone suppression for breast cancer treatment. As hair grows, steroid hormones get incorporated in the follicle. An approximate time sequence of hormone concentration can be obtained by analyzing segments of hair from root to tip using literature hair growth rates of approximately 1 cm/month. This work tests feasibility of the method by analyzing estradiol levels in several segments of hair before and during treatment. Hair samples were processed by enzymatic digestion, followed by bead milling, organic extraction, solid-phase extraction, and derivatization for signal enhancement. Estradiol standard concentration curves were obtained by HPLC-MS/MS for quantification. Samples were obtained from three different participants: a pre-/induced-menopausal female undergoing estrogen suppression therapy for cancer treatment commenced prior to hair sampling, and for comparison a close-in-age pre-menopausal adult female and a pubescent female. This experiment validated our hypothesis for our primary participant by creating a retrospective hormone time series and showing a clear concentration decrease at the onset of treatment (decreased by 9.2×). Interestingly, even after treatment, the participant’s hair showed detectable levels of estradiol, although blood test results (gold standard) from that time frame showed no estrogens (<2pg/mL). Further study is required to determine if estradiol is being produced in the local scalp/follicular region that is not suppressed.

Competition history

  • CSEF 2026 Medicine & Physiology (Senior Division) · Entry S-15-14

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