Prognostic Role of Androgen Receptor in Triple Negative Breast Cancer: A Multi-Institutional Study

Bhattarai, Shristi; Klimov, Sergey; Mittal, Karuna; Krishnamurti, Uma; Li, Bill; Oprea-Ilies, Gabriela; Wetherilt, Ceyda Sonmez; Riaz, Ansa; Aleskandarany, Mohammad A.; Green, Andrew R.; Ellis, Ian O.; Cantuaria, Guilherme; Gupta, Meenakshi; Manne, Upender; Agboola, Johnson; Baskovich, Brett; Janssen, Emiel A.M.; Rakha, Emad; Callagy, Grace; Walsh, Elaine M.; Mehta, Anurag; Shet, Tanuja; Dogra, Atika; Gajaria, Pooja; Nggada, Haruna A.; Omonisi, Abidemi; Traina, Tiffany; Ahmed, Saad A.; Rida, Padmashree; Aneja, Ritu

Abstract

Background: Androgen Receptor (AR) has emerged as a potential therapeutic target for AR-positive triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, conflicting reports regarding AR’s prognostic role in TNBC are putting its usefulness in question. Some studies conclude that AR positivity indicates a good prognosis in TNBC whereas others suggest the opposite, and some show that AR status has no significant bearing on the patients’ prognosis. Methods: We evaluated the prognostic value of AR in resected primary tumors from TNBC patients from six international cohorts {US (n=420), UK (n=239), Norway (n=104), Ireland (n=222), Nigeria (n=180), and India (n=242); total n=1407}. All TNBC samples were stained with the same anti-AR antibody using the same immunohistochemistry protocol, and samples with ≥1% of AR-positive nuclei were deemed AR-positive TNBCs. Results: AR status shows population-specific patterns of association with patients’ overall survival after controlling for age, grade, population, and chemotherapy. We found AR-positive status to be a marker of good prognosis in US and Nigerian cohorts, a marker of poor prognosis in Norway, Ireland and Indian cohorts, and neutral in UK cohort. Conclusion: AR status, on its own, is not a reliable prognostic marker. More research to investigate molecular subtype composition among the different cohorts is warranted.

Citation

Bhattarai, S., Klimov, S., Mittal, K., Krishnamurti, U., Li, B., Oprea-Ilies, G., …Aneja, R. (2019). Prognostic Role of Androgen Receptor in Triple Negative Breast Cancer: A Multi-Institutional Study. Cancers, 11(7), Article 995. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers11070995

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 11, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jun 17, 2019
• Publication Date: Jul 17, 2019
• Deposit Date: Aug 20, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 19, 2020
• Journal: Cancers
• Electronic ISSN: 2072-6694
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 7
• Article Number: 995
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers11070995
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2450035
• Publisher URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/11/7/995