title: Androgen receptor expression predicts decreased survival in early stage triple-negative breast cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A subset of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has been reported to express androgen receptor (AR); however, the clinical significance of AR expression in TNBC is unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined immunohistochemical expression of AR in a large cohort of TNBC cases and correlated its expression with clinicopathologic features and clinical outcome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  AR expression was found in 17.7% (87/492) of TNBCs. Positive expression of AR showed significant correlation with older age (p < 0.001), apocrine histology (p = 0.001), and lower histologic grade (p < 0.001). AR was a poor prognostic marker for overall survival (OS) in univariate (p = 0.026) and multivariate (p = 0.008) analyses. In the lymph node-negative (n = 316) subgroup, AR expression was a significant predictor of worse OS and disease-free survival (DFS) in both univariate (p = 0.028 and 0.011) and multivariate (p = 0.024 and 0.01, respectively) analyses. AR expression also was a prognostic factor in pT1 subgroup (OS, p = 0.007; DFS, p = 0.01); however, its prognostic value was not observed in TNBC patients with lymph node metastasis or tumor size larger than pT1.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  AR-expressing TNBCs represent a distinct breast cancer subgroup with adverse clinical outcome and AR blockade could be a potential endocrine therapy for these TNBC patients. Evaluation of AR status may provide additional information on prognosis and treatment in patients with TNBC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Su Hwan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Soo Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Young Kyung
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Bae
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D018275:Carcinoma, Lobular / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D018276:Carcinoma, Medullary / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D011944:Receptors, Androgen / Q000378:metabolism*; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism; D015996:Survival Rate; D064726:Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011944:Receptors, Androgen; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; C410798:AR protein, human