Stromal androgen receptor expression in prostate cancer in relation to clinicopathological parameters

Background Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most commonly diagnosed male tumors all over the world. Most studies have concentrated upon the established role of epithelial androgen receptor (AR) expression in PCa, but the role of stromal AR expression is still not completely understood. Aim To assess immunohistochemical expression of stromal AR and investigate its relation to the PCa grade (according to the new contemporary advances in Gleason score/grading system) and other clinicopathological parameters. Materials and methods This is a retrospective study performed on 65 cases of PCa. All cases were immunohistochemically stained for AR to assess its stromal expression using the Allred score applied for estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) in the breast. The results were recorded for statistical analysis. Results Stromal AR was significantly related to the percentage of PCa in the specimen (P=0.003), tumor grade (P=0.001), perineural invasion (P=0.041), and cancer stage (P=0.001). On the contrary, stromal AR expression showed statistically insignificant relation with patients’ age (P=0.231), diabetes mellitus status (P=0.073), preoperative prostate-specific antigen level (P=0.202), digital rectal examination result (P=0.421), weight of the prostate (P=0.083), tumor size (P=0.209), and lymph node metastasis (P=0.411). Moreover, using Spearman’s correlation, there was a highly statistically significant correlation between stromal AR score and both Gleason grade/score (P Conclusion AR expression in prostatic cancer stroma may have protective value against cancer progression.