Is It Time to Consider the Androgen Receptor as a Therapeutic Target in Breast Cancer?

Autor: Mario Miccoli, Giuseppe Nicolò Fanelli, Antonio Giuseppe Naccarato, Cristian Scatena, Melika Kooshki Forooshani, Rosa Scarpitta
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry. 22:775-786
ISSN: 1871-5206
DOI: 10.2174/1871520621666211201150818
Popis: Breast cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous disease and the most prevalent malignant tumor in women worldwide. The majority of BC cases are positive for estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PgR), both known to be involved in cancer pathogenesis, progression, and invasion. In line with this, hormonal deprivation therapy appears to be a useful tool and an effective treatment for these BC subtypes. Unfortunately, prognosis among patients with hormone-negative tumors or therapy-refractory and metastatic patients remains poor. Novel biomarkers are urgently needed in order to predict the course of the disease, make better therapy decisions and improve the overall survival of patients. In this respect, the androgen receptor (AR), a member of the hormonal nuclear receptor superfamily and ER and PgR, emerges as an interesting feature widely expressed in human BCs. Despite the advances, the precise tumorigenic mechanism of AR and the role of its endogenous ligands are yet not well-understood. In this review, we aim to elaborate on the prognostic impact of AR expression and current AR-targeting approaches based on previous studies investigating AR's role in different BC subtypes.
Databáze: OpenAIRE