PLoS ONE (Jan 2015)

Androgen Receptor (AR), E-Cadherin, and Ki-67 as Emerging Targets and Novel Prognostic Markers in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) Patients.

  • Giuseppina Rosaria Rita Ricciardi,
  • Barbara Adamo,
  • Antonio Ieni,
  • Luana Licata,
  • Roberta Cardia,
  • Giuseppa Ferraro,
  • Tindara Franchina,
  • Giovanni Tuccari,
  • Vincenzo Adamo

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0128368
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 6
p. e0128368

Abstract

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BACKGROUND:TNBC is an aggressive subset of breast cancer (BC) without specific target therapy. METHODS:This observational, retrospective study included 45 cases of TNBC. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of the AR, E-cadherin and Ki-67 in relation to histological type, time to relapse and overall survival (OS). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was carried out on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor samples obtained from patients defined TNBC. RESULTS:The AR was positive (IHC >10%) in 26.6%. E-cadherin (CDH1) expression was considered positive if the score was ≥ 2. This expression was negative in 53.3% cases. The Ki-67 index was ≥ 20% in 37.7%. Univariate analyses showed that AR, CDH1 and Ki-67 are significantly associated with OS. Multivariate analysis showed that AR and Ki-67 expression are independent variables associated with OS. The statistical analysis showed that patients with AR negative and Ki-67 positive expression have a significant correlation with poor outcome. CONCLUSIONS:Our data suggest that the combination of AR and E-cadherin expression as well as Ki-67 status might be useful prognostic markers in TNBC. Hence, these molecular determinants could play an interesting role to classify subgroups of TNBC.