Immunohistochemical Evaluation of Ovarian Hormonal Receptors in Canine Mammary Tumors

Francesca Mariotti, Renzoni Giacomo, Mari Subeide

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Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Camerino, Italy.

DOI: 10.4236/ojvm.2013.32017                

Abstract

Background: In female dogs, ovarian hormones have a crucial role in the pathogenesis of mammary tumors. Ovarian hormones interact with nuclear receptors, estrogen receptor α (ERα) and β (ERβ), progesteron receptor (PR) and androgen receptor (AR) respectively. The aim of this study was to verify the existence of correlations between biological behaviour and immunohistochemical expression of estrogen receptor α (ERα) and β (ERβ), progesterone receptor (PR) and androgen receptor (AR) in canine mammary tumors. A total of sixty-four tumors were examined. Results: The expression of every receptor was higher in normal tissue and benign tumors than in malignant neoplasm. Among malignancies, the lowest levels of every receptor were detected in high grade carcinomas (p < 0.01). Lower levels of ERα and PR were associated with regional (p < 0.01) and/or distant (p < 0.05) metastasis. A lower expression of ERβ was found in carcinomas with nodal positive status (p < 0.05). High level of AR seemed weakly associated with the development of distant metastasis (p > 0.05). Conclusions: The expression of ERα and/or PR showed the positive prognostic value for the Spearman’s rank test (p < 0.01). ERβ also displayed a positive prognostic significance (p < 0.05). The levels of AR were inversely correlated only with grading of a slight positive correlation with metastatic power of carcinoma (p > 0.05). In human breast carcinoma, AR seems to be involved in metastatic development by up-regulation of metalloprotease of matrix (MMP). Therefore, evaluating the correlation among the presence of AR, expression of MMP and appearance of distant metastasis also in canine mammary tumors could be very interesting.

Keywords

Ovarian Hormonal Receptors; Mammary Tumours; Dog; Immunohistochemistry

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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