Lin28A and androgen receptor expression in ER−/Her2+ breast cancer

The aim of this study was to examine the expression of Lin28A and androgen receptor (AR) in ER−/Her2+ breast cancer, and to research the association of Lin28A and AR co-expression status with patients’ prognosis. The expression of Lin28A and AR in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded surgical sections from 305 patients with ER−/Her2+ breast cancer was analyzed by immunohistochemistry, and the co-expression patterns in breast cancer cells were investigated by immunofluorescent staining. The impact of the expression of Lin28A and AR in prognosis was also assessed by the Kaplan–Meier, univariate, and multivariate logistic regression models. This study included 305 cases ER−/Her2+ breast cancer patients. Lin28A and AR were expressed in 240 cases (78.7 %) and 220 cases (72.1 %), respectively. Lin28A tended to be higher in AR-positive patients (75.0 %). Lin28A and AR co-expression (Lin28+/AR+) was significantly associated with high tumor grade (G3) (p = 0.023) and high Ki67 index (p = 0.020). The mRNA and protein expression levels of Lin28A and AR were higher in MDA-MB-453 cells (ER−/Her2+) than in the MDA-MB-231 cells (ER−/Her2−). In univariate analysis, Lin28A+/AR+ was significant risk factors associated with unfavorable OS (p = 0.049) and RFS (p = 0.019). Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that Lin28A+/AR+ expression showed lower RFS rates compared with Lin28A−/AR+ (p = 0.043) and Lin28A−/AR− patients(p = 0.019). Multivariate cox model showed that Lin28A+/AR+ remained an independent negative prognostic factor for RFS. Our study showed that Lin28A and AR co-expressed in ER−/Her-2+ breast cancer and correlated with poor prognosis. The possibility that Lin28A may drive AR expression via a positive feedback mechanism remains to be tested.