title: Androgen receptor and enzymes in lymph node metastasis and cancer reoccurrence in triple-negative breast cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by the absence of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and HER2. TNBCs are a diverse subgroup, but one promising marker and therapeutic target of this breast cancer is the androgen receptor (AR). Previously we demonstrated that AR and cognate intracrine pathways are associated with decreased proliferation in invasive ductal carcinoma with their decrease also detected between organ-confined and invasive diseases. Therefore, in this study, we examined the status of AR and androgen-producing enzymes during the process of metastasis to lymph nodes and cancer recurrence.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 2 series of patients with TNBC, one from Kumamoto University Hospital composed of 16 matched cases of primary and locally or distal recurrences and the other from Tohoku University Hospital examining 46 lymph node metastasis from 23 patients. In addition to studying concordance in AR expression, we also examined the interactions between AR and Ki-67 labeling index and AR and site of distal metastasis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In both series, AR status was concordant between primary and recurrent/metastatic disease, but coordinated expression of AR and androgenic enzymes was lost during the process. The inverse association between AR and Ki-67, previously reported in invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), was markedly potentiated in both lymph node and recurrent cancers. In addition, AR expression appeared to have little effect on visceral metastasis but was associated directly with bone metastasis and inversely with brain metastasis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of our present study demonstrated that AR remained in the majority of metastatic samples from AR-positive primary TNBCs and that AR manipulation could be exploited in the metastatic settings of TNBC.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Pathology, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai - Japan.
authors.forename: Keely May
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: McNamara
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoda
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miki
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nemoto
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyashita
authors.forename: Reiki
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Arima
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tamaki
authors.forename: Takanori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ohuchi
authors.forename: Hironobu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sasano
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D011944:Receptors, Androgen / Q000378:metabolism*; D064726:Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D011944:Receptors, Androgen