Dr. Elias Obeid on Androgen Receptor Expression in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Elias Obeid, MD, MPH, assistant professor, Department of Clinical Genetics, Fox Chase Cancer Center, discusses a retrospective analysis that investigated androgen receptor expression in patients with triple-negative breast cancer. (TNBC).

Androgen receptor expression was present in about 17% of patients analyzed in the study, says Obeid. In androgen receptor-negative TNBC, also know as quadruple-negative breast cancer (QNBC), overexpression of EGFR and loss of PTEN seemed to be more common compared with androgen receptor-positive TNBC. This opens the door for potential targeted therapies, says Obeid.

In androgen receptor-positive TNBC, it was determined that there was low expression of TS and TUBB3, and overexpression of several other genes. Based on these findings, oncologists should consider treating these patients with combination chemotherapy and targeted therapy agents, says Obeid.