Distribution of androgen receptor expression in breast cancer subtypes

This study aimed to analyze the differential expression of the androgen receptor (AR) across molecular subtypes of female breast cancer and to evaluate its significance in breast cancer tissues. Pathological specimens were collected from breast cancer patients who had not undergone prior systemic treatment, including excised or core needle biopsy samples. Immunohistochemical staining was performed for molecular markers including estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), Ki-67, and AR. Based on current immunohistochemical diagnostic criteria, breast cancers were classified into five major molecular subtypes to assess the distribution of AR expression across these subtypes. The Study included 227 breast cancer patients with complete data, aged from 24 to 74 years. There were 207 patients with AR positive, and the overall positive rate was 91.2%. AR positive expression rate was statistically different among the molecular subtypes( p < 0.001). The higher the ER and PR expression, the higher the AR expression. The higher the expression of Ki-67, the lower the AR expression. ER status was an independent predictor of AR positivity (OR:8.875; p = 0.004). Androgen receptor is commonly expressed in breast cancer tissues, and its expression is positively correlated with ER and PR expression and negatively correlated with the expression of Ki-67.