The prognosis of breast cancer in pre-menopausal women is very variable and dependent on the interactions of several biological factors. The androgen receptor (AR) could be among the prognostic variables related to survival although the data is scarce. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between androgen receptor expression and survival outcomes in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive pre-menopausal invasive breast carcinoma patients.
We assessed the AR expression in ER-positive pre-menopausal invasive breast carcinomas and correlated this expression pattern with several clinical and pathologic parameters: tumor size, lymph node status, progesterone receptor (PgR) status, and human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2) overexpression and evaluated the association of these parameters with survival using univariate analyses. Immunohistochemical analysis for AR, PgR, and HER2 were carried out and semiquantitative evaluation of staining was performed.
AR expression was demonstrated in 61.44% of patients. No statistical difference was demonstrated in AR expression in relation to age, tumor size, lymph node status, PgR/HER2 status (p score = 0.758, 0.346, 0.604, 0.070, 0.48 respectively). AR expression was not an independent prognostic factor related to progression free survival and overall survival in ER-positive cancers.
AR expression was not associated with tumor size, ER/PgR/HER2 status. Although AR expression has prognostic significance in triple-negative breast cancer, it is not a prognostic marker in hormone-positive premenopausal breast cancer.
Hacettepe University Medical School Hospital.
Has not received any funding.
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.