TY - JOUR
T1 - Androgen receptor is frequently expressed in HER2-positive, ER/PR-negative breast cancers
AU - Micello, Donata
AU - Marando, Alessandro
AU - Sahnane, Nora
AU - Riva, Cristina
AU - Capella, Carlo
AU - Sessa, Fausto
PY - 2010/10
Y1 - 2010/10
N2 - 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 -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∈
AB - 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 -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∈
KW - AR
KW - ER/PR-negative breast cancer
KW - HER2
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77958070002&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77958070002&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00428-010-0964-y
DO - 10.1007/s00428-010-0964-y
M3 - Article
C2 - 20809337
AN - SCOPUS:77958070002
SN - 0945-6317
VL - 457
SP - 467
EP - 476
JO - Virchows Archiv - A Pathological Anatomy and Histopathology
JF - Virchows Archiv - A Pathological Anatomy and Histopathology
IS - 4
ER -