Correlation of androgen receptor expression in epithelial and Stromal cells of prostatic carcnoma with tumor grade

Introduction: Androgens are vital to prostate growth, development, and prostatic carcinogenesis. Studies have been conducted to evaluate androgen receptor expression in cancer cells and most of the studies have concentrated on cancer epithelial cells and not cancer stromal cells. Development of the prostate gland as well as development of prostatic cancer is closely associated with stromal-epithelial interactions and in the centre of these interactions stands the Androgen Receptor in both stromal and epithelial cells. Material and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using 70 cases of diagnosed prostatic cancer from radical prostatectomy samples. The immunohistichemical analysis was conducted using Androgen Receptor antibody. Quantification of the signal was analyzed using the histological score (HSCORE) that encompasses the percentage of stained cells and the intensity of the signal. Than histological score was correlated with tumor grade using the Gleason scoring system were the cancers were divided into well differentiated prostatic carcinoma (G1) (Gleason score 2-6), moderately differentiated carcinoma (G2) (Gleason score 7) and poorly differentiated carcinoma (G3) (Gleason score 8-10). Results: In the epithelial cells Androgen Receptor expression declined as Gleason grade increased but this correlation was statistically not significant. In the stromal cells a decline in Androgen Receptor expression was also noted but this decline was more pronounced and statistically significant correlation of Androgen Receptor expression was noted between well differentiated carcinomas and moderately and poorly differentiated prostatic carcinomas. Conclusion: Androgen Receptor expression in stromal cells of prostatic carcinoma shows more pronounced decrease as the tumor dedifferentiates compared to Androgen Receptor expression in epithelial cells of prostatic carcinoma.