Abstract
Background: Estrogen-receptor (ER)-, progesterone-receptor (PR)-, and androgen-receptor (AR)-negative breast cancer cells are unaffected by treatment with dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEAS) and an aromatase inhibitor (AI). We hypothesized that cell growth would be inhibited with DHEAS/AI treatment after successful transfection of an AR expression vector. Methods: ER/PR/AR-negative breast cancer cells were transfected with an AR expression vector and treated with DHEAS/AI for 2 days. Growth inhibition of these cells was compared with that of transfected cells treated with only AI or with nontransfected cells treated with DHEAS/AI. Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine statistical significance. Results: Cell death rates of 53.5% (P = .001) and 40.1% (P = .006) were seen in transfected cells treated with DHEAS/AI compared with controls for days 1 and 2, respectively. Nontransfected cells were unaffected by treatment. Comments: ER/PR/AR-negative cells transfected with AR were killed by DHEAS/AI treatment, providing evidence that AR is responsible for this effect. This provides the first AR-targeted hormonal therapy for ER breast cancer.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 576-580 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | American journal of surgery |
Volume | 191 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2006 |
Keywords
- Androgen receptor
- Aromatase inhibitor
- Breast cancer
- Dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery