The expression and clinical progression of androgen, estrogen and prolactin receptor in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Objective:The aim of this study is to analyze the different expression and function of androgen receptors (AR) and estrogen receptor (ER-α) in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). In combination with the expression of prolactin receptor (PRLR), we analyzed the prognostic impact of three receptors on the laryngeal carcinoma. Method:In this study, immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PC) analysis were performed on the tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues in 112 LSCC patients (95 males and 17 females). We found that hormone receptor expression is closely related to the clinical tumor lesions and overall survival data. Result:The expression of AR, ER-α and PRLR in tumor tissues were much higher than those in adjacent normal tissues (P>0.05) at both protein and mRNA levels. The higher PRLR level indicate poor survival in LSCC patients (P=0.02), while higher ER-α expression could influence the survival with considerable trend toward significance (P=0.06). Furthermore, the higher expression of ER-α in tumours were corresponding with PRLR cytoplasmic higher level expression (r=0.802, P=0.04). This mutual promoted effect between ER-α and PRLR possibly suggests potential mechanisms among those sex related hormone receptors in laryngeal cancer. Conclusion:It has become increasingly credible that the sex related hormone receptors play an important role in the development of LSCC.