Androgen receptor protein expression in prostatic tissues in black and caucasian men

BACKGROUND: CaP has a higher incidence and mortality in Black men. We hypothesized that subpopulation differences in AR expression may contribute to this phenomenon. METHOD: AR immunostaining was compared in epithelium and PES of normal, BPH, and CaP tissues from Black African men and UK Caucasian men. RESULTS: AR expression was similar in normal prostatic epithelium of both groups, but was higher in BPH and CaP epithelium of Black than Caucasian men (P </= 0.0001). Also, AR expression in PES was higher in Caucasian than Black men in normal/atrophic and benign hyperplastic tissues, but there was a similar significant loss of AR expression in PES of CaP tissues of both groups (normal and BPH stroma versus CaP stroma (P </= 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Variations in AR expression between subpopulations may contribute to the phenotypic differences of prostatic diseases in Black and Caucasian men.