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01-10-2010 | Original Article

Androgen receptor is frequently expressed in HER2-positive, ER/PR-negative breast cancers

Authors: Donata Micello, Alessandro Marando, Nora Sahnane, Cristina Riva, Carlo Capella, Fausto Sessa

Published in: Virchows Archiv | Issue 4/2010

Abstract

The estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR)-negative breast carcinomas (BCs) encompass three molecular subtypes: one with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER) overexpression, one normal like, and the triple negative. The androgen receptor (AR) is expressed in 70–90% of invasive BCs. The aim of our study is to detect the expression of AR in a series of ER/PR-negative BCs to ascertain if there is clinical significance in relation to BC molecular subtypes. A immunohistochemical study for all receptors and cytokeratin expression was performed in 232 cases of ER/PR-negative BCs. According to cytokeratin expression, BCs were classified into two groups: luminal-type BCs (44.2%) and basal-like-type BCs (55.8%). According to the expression of HER2, 59.3% were triple-negative BCs (when ER, PR, and HER2 were negative) and 40.7% were HER2-positive BCs. AR expression was observed in 128 tumors (56.6%). One hundred and ten cases (48.8%) had >10% and 18 (7.8%) had <10% of positively stained cells. AR immunoreactivity was found in 31.2% basal-like BCs, while in the luminal group 71.1% of cases were positive, showing highly significant correlation (p < 10⁻⁸). Regarding HER2 status, 76.7% of HER2-positive BC cases were AR positive compared with only 30.4% of triple-negative BC types, showing a strong statistically significant correlation. In conclusion, we show that AR is frequently expressed in ER/PR-negative BCs and that expression of HER2 and AR is highly correlated (p < 0.005). Our results point out the role of AR and HER2 in the pathogenesis of BCs and suggest the potential role of AR in clinical management of ER/PR-negative BCs.

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Title: Androgen receptor is frequently expressed in HER2-positive, ER/PR-negative breast cancers
Authors: Donata Micello
Alessandro Marando
Nora Sahnane
Cristina Riva
Carlo Capella
Fausto Sessa
Publication date: 01-10-2010
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Published in: Virchows Archiv / Issue 4/2010
Print ISSN: 0945-6317
Electronic ISSN: 1432-2307
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-010-0964-y

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Androgen receptor is frequently expressed in HER2-positive, ER/PR-negative breast cancers

Abstract

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