What does aromatase mean?
Aromatase is an enzyme — formally known as estrogen synthetase — that performs the crucial chemical step of converting androgens, the male sex hormones, into estrogens, the female sex hormones. Found primarily in the ovaries, testes, placenta, brain, and fat tissue, it plays a central role in sexual development, reproduction, and bone health. Because many breast cancers depend on estrogen to grow, aromatase has become medically significant: aromatase inhibitors are a standard class of drugs used to treat hormone-sensitive breast cancer, particularly in postmenopausal women, whose main source of estrogen is extra-ovarian aromatase activity in adipose tissue. The word is technical, appearing almost entirely within medicine, biochemistry, endocrinology, and pharmacology rather than casual conversation. Its name reflects its function of creating an aromatic ring structure during hormone synthesis. For readers interested in how hormones shape health, aromatase is a key term linking basic biochemistry to widely prescribed modern therapeutics.
nounAn enzyme, found chiefly in the ovaries, testes, placenta, brain, and adipose tissue, that catalyzes the conversion of androgens (male sex hormones) into estrogens (female sex hormones).
- The enzyme complex (also called estrogen synthetase) responsible for the final step of estrogen biosynthesis, converting androgens such as testosterone into estrogens such as estradiol.
"Drugs that block aromatase are widely used to treat hormone-sensitive breast cancer in postmenopausal women."
"In postmenopausal women, most circulating estrogen is produced when aromatase acts in adipose tissue rather than in the ovaries."
"Researchers measured aromatase levels in placental tissue to study fetal hormonal development."
The plural is rare, typically appearing only in contexts comparing multiple isoforms or species variants of the enzyme.
"Comparative studies have sequenced aromatases across a range of vertebrate species."
The drug tamoxifen gets more press, but aromatase inhibitors work by simply starving tumors of estrogen — blocking the very enzyme that makes it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of aromatase
The word 'aromatase' was coined in the mid-twentieth century as biochemists identified the enzyme responsible for aromatization — the conversion of androgens into estrogens via formation of an aromatic ring. It combines 'aromatize', from Greek-derived 'aroma' meaning fragrance or spice, with the '-ase' suffix standardly attached to enzyme names since the late nineteenth century. It thus shares its root with words like 'aroma' and 'aromatic'.
How aromatase is actually used
Aromatase is almost exclusively used in medical, biochemical, and pharmaceutical contexts; it is not part of general everyday vocabulary. It appears frequently in discussions of breast cancer therapy, where 'aromatase inhibitors' are a major class of drugs.
Easily confused with aromatase
'Aromatic' is an adjective describing fragrant substances or benzene-ring compounds in chemistry, whereas 'aromatase' is the noun for a specific enzyme; the enzyme's name derives from 'aromatize', meaning to convert a compound into an aromatic form.