Method for determining breast cancer treatment
View Patent ↗The present invention provides a method for determining a treatment procedure for breast cancer, a method of predicting a likelihood of success in treating breast cancer, and a method for selecting an endocrine therapy agent for treating breast cancer. In particular, methods of the present invention rely on the amount of androgen receptor (AR) and estrogen receptor (ER) in a tissue sample.
1. A method for treating breast cancer in a subject in need of such a treatment, the method comprising:
detecting a ratio between androgen receptor (AR)-positive cells and estrogen receptor (ER)-positive cells present in a tissue sample of the subject, wherein the tissue sample comprises AR-positive cells and ER-positive cells; and
treating the subject by:
administering to the subject an anti-estrogen therapeutic agent when the ratio between AR-positive cells and ER-positive cells in the tissue sample of the subject ranges from 0.5 to 1.0, and
administering to the subject an anti-androgen therapeutic agent when the ratio between AR-positive cells and ER-positive cells in the tissue sample of the subject is greater than 1.3;
wherein the tissue sample is normal epithelia adjacent to the breast cancer tissue.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the anti-androgen therapeutic agent comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of an AR inhibitor and an inhibitor of androgen synthesis.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the anti-estrogen therapeutic agent comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of an estrogen receptor antagonist and an aromatase inhibitor.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of detecting the ratio between AR-positive cells and ER-positive cells in the tissue sample comprises immunostaining the tissue sample.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the step of detecting the ratio between AR-positive cells and ER-positive cells in the tissue sample comprises determining the percentage of cells stained by immunostaining.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the anti-estrogen therapeutic agent comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of tamoxifen, raloxifene, and fulvestrant.