LONDON, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- A research project has shown that semen contains a huge dose of hormones that boosts blood vessel growth, and aggravates cervical cancer, as cancerous cells in a woman's uterus or cervix have a high level of receptors for these hormones.

The combination could prove dangerous for women at high risk of getting cancer or those already with early-stage cancer, researchers from Britain and South Africa said, the journal Nature reported on its website Friday.

According to the report, researchers at the Medical Research Council's Human Reproductive Sciences Unit in Edinburgh, Britain, and scientists from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, took a look jointly at prostaglandins -- hormones that are produced naturally in the body, including by female reproductive organs. These hormones are known to help control the immune system and regulate cell growth.

The study showed that levels of prostaglandin receptors are often increased in cervical and uterine cancerous tumor cells. Seminal fluid contains a concentration of prostaglandins that is a thousand times greater than is present around female reproductive cells.

The team led by British scientist Henry Jabbour investigated what happens when this flood of hormones hits cancerous cells.

The researchers took a standard line of cancer cells and added prostaglandin receptors up to the levels seen in cervical cancers, and then semen, and found the prostaglandin activated genes in the cancer cells that contribute to blood vessel growth.

For a patient, this would increase tumor size and the same thing happened with cells taken from women diagnosed with uterine cancer, according to the researchers.

"The enzymes that make prostaglandins in female reproductive cells are also up-regulated, so yet more prostaglandins will be created," Jabbour was quoted as saying.

Cervical cancer is most common in women who live in the developing world, and it is usually triggered by the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus.

Jabbour advises that sexually active women who are at risk of cervical or uterine cancer should encourage their partners to wear condoms. That would tackle both possible sources of prostaglandin - those produced naturally by women and those introduced to the body by sperm.

Blocking prostaglandin receptors might be a potential approach for cervical cancer therapy, according to the researchers. Enditem