Serdar Arici1, Selma Sengiz Erhan2, Caglayan Geredeli3, Ruhper Cekin3, Abdullah Sakin4, Sener Cihan3. 1. Department of Medical Oncology, University of Health Sciences, Okmeydani Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey, serdararici@hotmail.com. 2. Department of Pathology, University of Health Sciences, Okmeydani Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. 3. Department of Medical Oncology, University of Health Sciences, Okmeydani Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. 4. Department of Medical Oncology, Yuzuncu Yil University Medical School, Van, Turkey.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To investigate whether androgen receptor (AR) status affects neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in stage II and III Turkish breast cancer patients. METHODS: The histological response for breast and axilla was assessed according to the Miller-Payne grading system. In light microscopy, nuclear staining in tumor cells was evaluated, and nuclear staining above 1% was accepted as positive for AR expression. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to the intensity of AR staining: low, moderate, and high. RESULTS: In total, 71 women with breast cancer were included in the study. In univariate analysis, age, menopause status, tumor diameter, stage, histological grade, Ki-67, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) status were tested to determine which of these factors were associated with >90% responsiveness. AR negativity was found to be the only statistically significant factor. In multivariate analysis, AR positivity at each intensity was found to be the single important factor affecting decreasing pathologic response in patients receiving NACT for breast cancer. CONCLUSION: Our results show that AR positivity is associated with poor response to NACT in Turkish breast cancer patients and that AR positivity is independent of stage, hormone receptor status, HER-2 status, and disease stage.
PURPOSE: To investigate whether androgen receptor (AR) status affects neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in stage II and III Turkish breast cancerpatients. METHODS: The histological response for breast and axilla was assessed according to the Miller-Payne grading system. In light microscopy, nuclear staining in tumor cells was evaluated, and nuclear staining above 1% was accepted as positive for AR expression. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to the intensity of AR staining: low, moderate, and high. RESULTS: In total, 71 women with breast cancer were included in the study. In univariate analysis, age, menopause status, tumor diameter, stage, histological grade, Ki-67, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and humanepidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) status were tested to determine which of these factors were associated with >90% responsiveness. AR negativity was found to be the only statistically significant factor. In multivariate analysis, AR positivity at each intensity was found to be the single important factor affecting decreasing pathologic response in patients receiving NACT for breast cancer. CONCLUSION: Our results show that AR positivity is associated with poor response to NACT in Turkish breast cancerpatients and that AR positivity is independent of stage, hormone receptor status, HER-2 status, and disease stage.