Hobisch A, Culig Z, Radmayr C, Bartsch G, Klocker H, Hittmair A
Department of Urology, University of Innsbruck, Austria.
Prostate. 1996 Feb;28(2):129-35. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0045(199602)28:2<129::AID-PROS9>3.0.CO;2-B.
To date androgen receptor (AR) expression and structure in human prostatic cancer have been studied in primary tumor specimens and in cell lines. Investigation of alterations in the androgen-signalling transduction cascade in prostatic carcinoma metastases is important to improve our understanding of tumor progression towards androgen insensitivity. In the present study we have collected data comparing AR expression in both the primary tumors and the respective pelvic lymph node metastases. Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues derived from the primary tumors and positive lymph nodes of 12 patients undergoing radical prostatectomy were immunostained for the AR and prostate-specific antigen (PSA). AR expression was evaluated with the polyclonal antibody PG-21, which is directed against amino acid 1-21 in the N-terminal region of the AR. All primary tumors stained for the AR. In 8 of the 12 lymph nodes examined more than 50% of the tumor cells were AR positive and displayed a uniform staining pattern; in one lymph node metastasis remarkable heterogeneity in AR expression was observed. In two cases less than 10% of the tumor cells stained for the AR. In one case the lymph node metastasis was immunohistochemically negative for the AR, whereas the primary tumor obtained from the same patient displayed intense staining for the AR. PSA was expressed in all metastases and primary tumors. Our data demonstrate that loss of the AR in lymph node metastases from prostatic carcinoma is a rare event.
迄今为止，已在原发性肿瘤标本和细胞系中研究了人前列腺癌中雄激素受体（AR）的表达和结构。研究前列腺癌转移灶中雄激素信号转导级联的改变，对于增进我们对肿瘤向雄激素不敏感进展的理解很重要。在本研究中，我们收集了比较原发性肿瘤和相应盆腔淋巴结转移灶中AR表达的数据。对12例行根治性前列腺切除术患者的原发性肿瘤和阳性淋巴结的福尔马林固定石蜡包埋组织进行AR和前列腺特异性抗原（PSA）免疫染色。用针对AR N端区域第1-21位氨基酸的多克隆抗体PG-21评估AR表达。所有原发性肿瘤均对AR染色呈阳性。在检查的12个淋巴结中的8个中，超过50%的肿瘤细胞AR呈阳性，并显示出均匀的染色模式；在一个淋巴结转移灶中，观察到AR表达存在明显异质性。在2例中，不到10%的肿瘤细胞对AR染色呈阳性。在1例中，淋巴结转移灶免疫组化检测AR呈阴性，而同一患者的原发性肿瘤对AR染色呈强阳性。PSA在所有转移灶和原发性肿瘤中均有表达。我们的数据表明，前列腺癌淋巴结转移灶中AR缺失是罕见事件。
