Prognostic Value of Androgen Receptor in Triple Negative Breast Cancer of Iranian Patients in Yazd Region

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous disease group with a higher recurrence risk and poorer prognosis. In this study, we aimed to investigate the frequency and prognostic value of androgen receptor (AR) expression in tissues of TNBC patients.

In this study a total of 60 TNBC patients treated between 2011 - 2016 in Shahid Sadoughi and Mortaz Hospital were included and their medical records were analyze. The available paraffin blocks were assessed immunohistochemically to determine AR expression. Tumors with ≥10% nuclear staining were considered AR-positive, while the ones with <10% staining were considered AR-negative. The association between AR expression, and clinical-pathologic characteristics and prognosis in TNBC was analyzed.

The result showed that AR expression in TBNC correlated with high risk of recurrence but no significant correlation with the age, grade, tumor size, lymph node status, type of diagnosis, tumor location, and Ki-67 level was observed. Positive immunoreactivity for AR was observed in 19 out of 60 (11%) specimens. No correlation was observed between the AR expression and the age, grade, tumor size, lymph node status, type of diagnosis, tumor location, and Ki-67 level. The AR-positive patients exhibited high risk of recurrence (P=0.016) and death (P=0.015) in comparison with the AR-negative patients. Concusions: AR may not be a suitable biomarker and treatment target for the Iranian Yazd patients with TNBC.