title: The expression status of TRX, AR, and cyclin D1 correlates with clinicopathological characteristics and ER status in breast cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The ER signaling pathway plays a critical role in breast cancer. ER signaling pathway-related proteins, such as TRX, AR, and cyclin D1, may have an important function in breast cancer. However, the ways that they influence breast cancer development and progression are still unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 101 Chinese female patients diagnosed with invasive ductal breast adenocarcinoma were retrospectively enrolled in the study. The expression levels of TRX, AR, and cyclin D1 were detected by immunohistochemistry and analyzed via correlation with clinicopathological characteristics and the expression status of ER, PR, and HER2.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The expression status of TRX, AR, and cyclin D1 was not associated with the patient's age, menopausal status, tumor size, or histological differentiation (P>0.05), but was positively correlated with ER and PR (P<0.001, respectively). Most (66/76, 86.8) TRX-positive patients were also HER2-positive (P=0.003). Of AR- or cyclin D1-positive patients, most had relatively earlier I-II tumor stage (P=0.005 and P=0.047, respectively) and no metastatic lymph node involvement (P=0.008 and P=0.005, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TRX was found to be positively correlated with ER and PR expression, whereas it was negatively correlated with HER2 expression. In addition, we found that the positive expression of AR and cyclin D1 was correlated with lower TNM stage and fewer metastatic lymph nodes, and it was more common in ER-positive breast cancer than in the basal-like subtype. This may indicate that AR and cyclin D1 are good predictive and prognostic factors and closely interact with ER signaling pathway. Further studies will be necessary to investigate the response and clinical outcomes of treatment targeting TRX, AR, and cyclin D1.
authors: Department of Medical Oncology, Jinling Hospital, School of Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors: Weisun
authors: W
authors: Huang
authors: Department of Medical Oncology, Jinling Hospital, School of Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors: Weiwei
authors: W
authors: Nie
authors: Department of Medical Oncology, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors: Wenwen
authors: W
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of Medical Oncology, Jinling Hospital, School of Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors: Yanru
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Medical Oncology, Jinling Hospital, School of Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors: Aiyu
authors: A
authors: Zhu
authors: Department of Medical Oncology, Jinling Hospital, School of Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China; Department of Medical Oncology, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors: Xiaoxiang
authors: X
authors: Guan
keywords: androgen receptor; breast cancer; cyclin D1; immunohistochemistry; thioredoxin