Expression of ARs in triple negative breast cancer tumors: a potential prognostic factor?

Abstract

Aris Giannos,1 Martin Filipits,2 Flora Zagouri,2,3 Anita Brandstetter,2 Alexandra Tsigginou,1 Maria Sotiropoulou,4 Irene Papaspyrou,4 Theodoros N Sergentanis,5 Theodora Psaltopoulou,5 Alexandros Rodolakis,1 Aris Antsaklis,1 Meletios-Athanasios Dimopoulos,2 Constantine Dimitrakakis1 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Alexandra General Hospital, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece; 2Institute of Cancer Research, Department of Medicine I, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; 3Department of Clinical Therapeutics, Alexandra General Hospital, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece; 4Department of Pathology, Alexandra General Hospital, Athens, Greece; 5Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece Background/aim: In light of the controversial published literature, this study aims to examine the potential prognostic role of AR immunohistochemical expression in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).Patients and methods: Ninety patients with TNBC were included in this study; the associations between AR expression (Allred score), clinicopathological variables (stage, grade, histological subtype, tumor size, nodal status, age at diagnosis, Ki67 expression, and p53 expression), and overall survival were evaluated.Results: AR expression was not associated with stage, grade, histological subtype, tumor size, nodal status, age at diagnosis, Ki67 expression, and p53 expression. AR immunopositivity was not associated with overall survival either at the univariate or at the multivariate Cox regression analysis (multivariate hazard ratio =0.66, 95% confidence interval: 0.26–1.70, P=0.393).Conclusion: AR expression does not seem to play a prognostic role in TNBC. Keywords: biomarkers, prognosis, AR, triple negative breast cancer