The high expression of FOXA1 is correlated with a favourable prognosis in salivary duct carcinomas: a study of 142 cases

Aims Salivary duct carcinoma (SDC) is an uncommon, aggressive tumour that, histologically, resembles high‐grade mammary ductal carcinoma, and is characterised by the expression of androgen receptor (AR). The androgen signalling pathway, a potential therapeutic target, can be regulated by FOXA1. This study aimed to evaluate the clinicopathological implications of FOXA1 in SDC. Methods and results We examined the relationship between the immunoexpression of FOXA1 and FOXA1 mutations and clinicopathological factors, including the biomarker status and clinical outcome, in 142 SDCs. FOXA1 was expressed in 128 SDCs (90.1%); the immunoexpression was heterogeneous. SDCs with a higher FOXA1 labelling index (LI) (≥20%) more frequently showed less advanced tumors on T classification (P = 0.002). FOXA1 LI was correlated positively with the AR expression value (r = 0.430, P