| Interesting question, my answer would be that the prostate does NOT carry out endocrine functions.
When I googled this to check myself I found a book entitled "The Prostate As Endocrine Organ" from 1989, with the following description "This unique publication illustrates that the prostate elaborates an array of local hormones or "autocoids" and how these influence prostatic growth, function and oncogenesis." I assume they use the word unique because it is kind of weird to call the prostate an endocrine gland. However, I find use of the term "local hormones" misleading, because even in the most expansive usage of endocrinology a hormone must be capable of more than exclusively autocrine actions. |