Expression of androgen receptor and two androgen-induced proteins (apolipoprotein D and pepsinogen C) in ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast

Aims: To evaluate the expression of androgen receptors (AR) and two androgen‐induced proteins [apolipoprotein D (ApoD) and pepsinogen C (PepC)] in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast. Methods and results: AR, ApoD and PepC expression was examined in 28 cases of pure DCIS and in 31 cases of DCIS adjacent to invasive carcinoma of the breast using immunohistochemical methods and then correlated with the architectural subtype, the degree of differentiation and the ostrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PgR)/HER‐2 status. We found no significant differences between pure DCIS and DCIS adjacent to invasive breast cancer regarding the percentage of positive cases for ApoD (64.3% versus 54.8%), PepC (42.9% versus 48.4%), ER (64.3% versus 58.1%), PgR (60.7% versus 58.1%) and HER‐2 (39.3% versus 67.7%). However, there was a significantly higher percentage of AR+ DCIS among those adjacent to invasive carcinomas of the breast than among pure DCIS lesions (93.5% versus 60.9%) (P = 0.009). AR expression did not correlate with architectural subtype, degree of differentiation, or ER/PgR/HER‐2/ApoD/PepC status, in cases of pure DCIS, nor in DCIS adjacent to invasive carcinoma of the breast. Conclusions: AR expression may represent an independent predictive factor in DCIS of the breast.