Investigation of androgen receptor expression in urothelial carcinoma of the bladder

BACKGROUND: Studies have demonstrated the importance of the androgen receptor (AR) in the development of bladder cancer and have proposed it as a potential biomarker or therapeutic hypothesis. However, the relationship between AR expression and both clinical features of patients and intrinsic tumor characteristics remains uncertain. AIMS: To evaluate the association between AR immunohistochemical expression and clinical as well as pathological characteristics of bladder cancer. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort including patients diagnosed with bladder cancer through transurethral resection of the bladder (TURB) between 2016 and 2021. For each case, AR immunoexpression was tested and analyzed in relation to sex, age, smoking history, number of tumor foci, tumor size, vascular invasion, histological grade, carcinoma in situ, and pathological stage. RESULTS: Low AR expression was observed in 97.5% of cases, while high expression was identified in 1.4% and indeterminate cases accounted for 1.1% of the cohort. AR immunoexpression was not related to clinical or pathological variables. CONCLUSION: No significant associations were identified between AR expression and clinical or pathological variables, suggesting that its potential role as a biomarker in bladder cancer warrants further investigation. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.