Abstract
Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common malignancies and the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in women. Androgen receptor (AR) is frequently expressed in diverse BC subtypes. Accumulating evidence has revealed that AR might be a predictive or prognostic factor and a drug target in BC. AR expression and AR pathways differ in various BC subtypes, thereby resulting in controversial inferences on the predictive and prognostic value of AR. Herein, we summarized the roles of AR in different BC subtypes and AR-targeting therapies based on preclinical and clinical studies. Moreover, we highlighted the possible efficacy of a combination therapy via exploiting the AR-related mechanisms and the research on therapeutic resistance.
Highlights
Breast cancer (BC) represents the most common malignancy in women, and is one of the leading causes of cancer-related fatality (11.6% of the total cancer deaths) [1]
Additional researches are needed to elucidate the significance of Androgen receptor (AR), in particular, identification of appropriate AR detection methods and novel markers of AR responsiveness to better select the patients who may benefit from AR-related treatments
The optimal cut-off point has not yet been identified; the discrepancy rate of AR expression between primary BC and metastatic tissue, and the influence of multiple antibodies on AR status, make it hard to explain the role of AR or select patients for AR-targeted therapy according to the expression data obtained by IHC [108, 109]
Summary
Breast cancer (BC) represents the most common malignancy in women, and is one of the leading causes of cancer-related fatality (11.6% of the total cancer deaths) [1]. ER-positive (ER+) BC is the most common subtype, comprising 70% of all BC cases [2, 3], while HER2-positive (HER2+) BC accounts for 20–25% [4]. Such patients can benefit from treatment targeting the ER or HER2, ER+ BC frequently acquires resistance to endocrine therapy [5]. We focused on the roles and prognostic significance of AR and AR-targeting therapies in different BC subtypes based on preclinical and clinical studies. We summarized the possibility of combination treatment and research on therapeutic resistance
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