HealthJuly 9, 2026
progesterone
/proʊˈdʒɛstəˌroʊn/
Definition
A steroid hormone that plays a key role in the female reproductive cycle and is involved in the treatment of certain medical conditions, specifically mentioned here in the context of enhancing breast cancer therapy.
Etymology
The term is a combination of 'pro-' (meaning 'favoring'), 'gest-' (from the Latin 'gestare', meaning 'to bear'), and '-one' (a chemical suffix for ketones). It was coined in the 1930s to describe the hormone that promotes the gestation process.
In the news
The word appears in a list of news headlines highlighting that synthetic progesterone can improve the effectiveness of anti-estrogen treatments for early-stage breast cancer patients.
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