Authors: Abeer M Shaaban Graham R Ball Rebecca A Brannan Gabor Cserni Anna Di Benedetto Jo Dent Laura Fulford Helen Honarpisheh Lee Jordan J Louise Jones Rani Kanthan Loaie Maraqa Maria Litwiniuk Marcella Mottolese Steven Pollock Elena Provenzano Philip R Quinlan Georgina Reall Sami Shousha Mark Stephens Eldo T Verghese Rosemary A Walker Andrew M Hanby Valerie SPEIrs
Publish Date: 2011/11/18
Volume: 133, Issue: 3, Pages: 949-958
Abstract
Male breast cancer remains understudied despite evidence of rising incidence Using a coordinated multicentre approach we present the first large scale biomarker study to define and compare hormone receptor profiles and survival between male and female invasive breast cancer We defined and compared hormone receptor profiles and survival between 251 male and 263 female breast cancers matched for grade age and lymph node status Tissue microarrays were immunostained for ERα ERβ1 2 5 PR PRA PRB and AR augmented by HER2 CK5/6 14 18 and 19 to assist typing Hierarchical clustering determined differential nature of influences between genders Luminal A was the most common phenotype in both sexes Luminal B and HER2 were not seen in males Basal phenotype was infrequent in both No differences in overall survival at 5 or 10 years were observed between genders Notably ARpositive luminal A male breast cancer had improved overall survival over female breast cancer at 5 P = 001 HR = 039 95 CI = 026–087 but not 10 years P = 029 HR = 075 95 CI = 046–126 and both 5 P = 004 HR = 037 95 CI = 007–097 and 10 years P = 004 HR = 043 95 CI = 012–097 in the unselected group Hierarchical clustering revealed common clusters between genders including total PR–PRA–PRB and ERβ1/2 clusters A striking feature was the occurrence of ERα on distinct clusters between genders In female breast cancer ERα clustered with PR and its isoforms in male breast cancer ERα clustered with ERβ isoforms and AR Our data supports the hypothesis that breast cancer is biologically different in males and females suggesting implications for clinical management With the incidence of male breast cancer increasing this provides impetus for further studyPresented in part at the 32nd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 913 December 2009 San Antonio TX Breast Cancer Research 2010 18 May 2010 London UK and the Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2010 Summer Meeting 30 June3 July St Andrews UK
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