Abstract:

 Objective · To investigate the expression of androgen receptor (AR) in human breast cancer and its prognostic significance. Methods · A total of 183 female patients with breast cancer were selected. The expression of AR in breast cancer tissues was detected by immunohistochemical staining. The relationship of AR expression with the clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed. Survival analysis of AR gene expression by an online database (Kmplot) was also performed. Results · The positive rate of AR expression was 47.5% and was significantly higher in grade 1 and grade 2 group than that in grade 3 group (57.6% vs 25.0%, P<0.05). Breast cancer patients with estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and P53 positive expression had significantly increased AR levels (P<0.05). AR expression were significantly higher in patients with luminal type as compared with those in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) positive and patients with triple negative breast cancer (51.7% vs 31.6%，P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier curves identified that AR gene expression was positively correlated with relapse-free survival, overall survival and distant metastasis-free survival of breast cancer patients (P<0.05). Conclusion · The breast cancer patients with AR positive expression have a better prognosis, which suggests that inhibitors of AR pathway may be a treatment option for breast cancer.

Key words: breast neoplasm, receptor, androgen, prognosis