Androgen receptor expression predicts different clinical outcomes for breast cancer patients stratified by hormone receptor status.
In this study we sought to correlate androgen receptor (AR) expression with tumor progression and disease-free survival (DFS) in breast cancer patients. We investigated AR expression in 450 breast cancer patients. We found that breast cancers expressing the estrogen receptor (ER) are more likely to co-express AR compared to ER-negative cancers (56.0% versus 28.1%, P < 0.001). In addition, we found that AR expression is correlated with increased DFS in patients with luminal breast cancer (P < 0.001), and decreased DFS in TNBC (triple negative breast cancer, P = 0.014). In addition, patients with HR+ tumors (Hormone receptor positive tumors) expressing low levels of AR have the lowest DFS among all receptor combinations. We also propose a novel prognostic model using AR receptor status, BRCA1, and present data showing that our model is more predictive of disease free survival compared to the traditional TMN staging system.
Key Laboratory of Breast Cancer in Shanghai, Department of Breast Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China.|Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
He-Sheng
HS
Jiang
Key Laboratory of Breast Cancer in Shanghai, Department of Breast Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China.|Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Xia-Ying
XY
Kuang
Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Wei-Li
WL
Sun
Department of Pathology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China.
Yan
Y
Xu
Key Laboratory of Breast Cancer in Shanghai, Department of Breast Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China.|Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Yi-Zi
YZ
Zheng
Key Laboratory of Breast Cancer in Shanghai, Department of Breast Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China.|Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Yi-Rong
YR
Liu
Key Laboratory of Breast Cancer in Shanghai, Department of Breast Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China.|Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Guan-Tian
GT
Lang
Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Feng
F
Qiao
Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Xin
X
Hu
Key Laboratory of Breast Cancer in Shanghai, Department of Breast Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China.|Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.|Institutes of Biomedical Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Zhi-Ming
ZM
Shao
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; 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; D016019:Survival Analysis; D064726:Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011944:Receptors, Androgen; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; C410798:AR protein, human
BRCA1; TNBC; androgen receptor; breast cancer; hormone receptor