Poelaert Filip, Van Praet Charles, Beerens Anne-Sophie, De Meerleer Gert, Fonteyne Valérie, Ost Piet, Lumen Nicolaas
Department of Urology, Ghent University Hospital, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Gent, Belgium.
Department of Pathology, Ghent University Hospital, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Gent, Belgium.
Biomed Res Int. 2015;2015:812815. doi: 10.1155/2015/812815. Epub 2015 Feb 22.
The androgen receptor (AR) and its signaling pathway play an important role in the development and progression of prostate cancer (PCa). In the setting of primary treatment of PCa with radiotherapy (RT), where the AR can be expected to be of more importance, studies evaluating the AR expression are lacking. The goal of this research is to evaluate AR protein expression in hormone-naive PCa patients treated by RT and investigate its possible prognostic role. Primary biopsy samples of 18 patients treated with primary RT were analyzed including the corresponding clinical information. AR protein expression of the tumor epithelium (with highest Gleason pattern) and the surrounding stroma was quantified using the Quick score for steroid receptors. The differential expression between epithelium and stroma, respectively, between tumor and normal tissue (ΔTumor - ΔBenign >2 versus ≤ 2), was predictive for clinical progression-free survival in the biopsy samples (P = 0.014). Preliminary results of this research show already a promising role of differential AR expression in predicting clinical relapse after PCa treatment with primary EBRT. Further research is needed to validate these findings. Hopefully this can lead to a better understanding of PCa evolution and eventually lead to better therapy strategies.
雄激素受体（AR）及其信号通路在前列腺癌（PCa）的发生和发展中起着重要作用。在前列腺癌的放射治疗（RT）初始治疗中，预计AR会发挥更重要的作用，但目前缺乏评估AR表达的研究。本研究的目的是评估接受RT治疗的激素初治前列腺癌患者的AR蛋白表达，并探讨其可能的预后作用。分析了18例接受初次RT治疗患者的原发活检样本，并纳入相应的临床信息。使用类固醇受体快速评分法对肿瘤上皮（最高Gleason分级）和周围基质中的AR蛋白表达进行定量。上皮与基质之间、肿瘤与正常组织之间的差异表达（Δ肿瘤 - Δ良性>2 vs ≤ 2）可预测活检样本中的临床无进展生存期（P = 0.014）。本研究的初步结果已显示AR差异表达在预测初次体外放射治疗（EBRT）后前列腺癌临床复发方面具有潜在作用。需要进一步研究来验证这些发现。希望这能有助于更好地理解前列腺癌的演变，并最终带来更好的治疗策略。
