Androgen receptor in breast cancer: A tissue microarray-based study

Abstract

Background and Aim: Breast carcinoma is the most common malignant tumor and the leading cause of cancer deaths in women. The incidence of breast cancer in India has been gradually raising accounting for 25%–33% of all cancers in women. Breast carcinomas are a heterogeneous group of tumors which show varied behavior and response to therapeutic agents. Androgen receptors (ARs) have been studied in great detail in prostate cancers, now being studied in breast cancers, but its role in breast cancer has not been elucidated completely. The aim of our study was to evaluate the expression of AR in invasive carcinoma of the breast and to evaluate its relation to estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor2 (HER2) expression on tissue microarray (TMA) sections. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive study which included 53 cases of breast carcinoma. The specimens were fixed in 10% formalin, routinely processed. A master block for TMA was made by taking 2 mm cores from paraffin blocks containing tumor. Sections were taken and stained for ER, PR, AR, and HER2. Results: A total of 53 cases were studied. Around 63% of breast carcinomas were positive for AR. Conclusion: AR expression can be used as an additional biomarker in breast carcinomas, and a large number of cases can be studied by TMA sections.