TITLE:
Immunohistochemical Evaluation of Ovarian Hormonal Receptors in Canine Mammary Tumors
AUTHORS:
Francesca Mariotti, Renzoni Giacomo, Mari Subeide
KEYWORDS:
Ovarian Hormonal Receptors; Mammary Tumours; Dog; Immunohistochemistry
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Veterinary Medicine,
Vol.3 No.2,
June
6,
2013
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 α and PR were associated with regional (p .01) and/or distant (p β was found in carcinomas with nodal positive status (p 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 β also displayed a positive prognostic significance (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.