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The expression and clinical significance of the androgen receptor and E-cadherin in triple-negative breast cancer

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Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has a poor prognosis and lacks prognostic indicators. The androgen receptor (AR) and E-cadherin are involved in the pathogenesis of breast cancer, but their roles are not clearly defined. We designed this study to evaluate AR and E-cadherin expression and to determine their relationships with the clinicopathologic parameters of triple-negative breast cancer. The present study included 127 TNBC patients. Immunohistochemical stains for AR and E-cadherin were performed, and the relationships between AR and E-cadherin expression and clinicopathologic data and prognosis were analyzed. We found that in TNBC patients, AR was expressed in 16(12.6%) cases, and E-cadherin was expressed in 41(33.0%) cases. AR expression was associated with tumor grade (P = 0.004) and menopausal status (P = 0.017), and E-cadherin expression was associated with node status (P= 0.016). A multivariate analysis demonstrated that tumor size, tumor grade, lymph node status, and E-cadherin were of prognostic significance for disease-free interval and overall survival. Compared with AR-positive patients, AR-negative patients showed significantly poorer outcomes with respect to the disease-free interval (P = 0.047) and overall survival (P = 0.038). E-cadherin-negative patients experienced shorter disease-free interval (P = 0.016) and poorer overall survival (P = 0.012) than did E-cadherin-positive patients. An AR-positive and E-cadherin-negative expression profile was associated with recurrence or metastasis (P = 0.036). Moreover, as the expression of nuclear AR increased (25% vs. 33.3%, P = 0.361), less E-cadherin staining was observed in TNBC samples. This finding suggested that AR and E-cadherin expression could be a useful prognostic marker for classifying subgroups of TNBC.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Department of Medical Oncology of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China, and the Pathology Department of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.

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Correspondence to Qingyuan Zhang.

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Dabei Tang, and Shanqi Xu have the same dedication to the theses. Both Dabei Tang and Shanqi Xu are first authors (Co-authors).

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Tang, D., Xu, S., Zhang, Q. et al. The expression and clinical significance of the androgen receptor and E-cadherin in triple-negative breast cancer. Med Oncol 29, 526–533 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-011-9948-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-011-9948-2

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