乳腺癌是女性排名第一的常见恶性肿瘤，是一种激素相关性疾病，暴露于雌激素是患乳腺癌一个重要的决定因素。而相关研究表明，干预雌激素的代谢过程，能够达到有效防治乳腺癌的目的。在雌激素代谢过程中，2-羟基雌激素（2-OH E）、2-甲氧基雌激素（2-OMe E）、4-甲氧基雌激素（4-OMe E）为有利代谢产物，16-羟基雌激素（16-OH E）、4-羟基雌激素（4-OH E）为有害代谢产物。若提高2-OH E与16-OH E含量比，可有效防治乳腺癌。此外，提高儿茶酚邻位甲基转移酶活性用以防治乳腺癌也具有广阔的前景。就近年来对于雌激素代谢过程和基于雌激素代谢防治乳腺癌的研究进展进行综述。

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.