Objective: To study the expressions of androgen receptor (AR) and estrogen receptor (ER) in the pathogenesis of laryngeal carcinoma.
Method: The method of in situ hybridization was employed to detect the expressions of AR and ER in 63 specimens of laryngeal carcinoma, 20 specimens of normal tissue beside carcinoma and 20 specimens of laryngeal benign lesion.
Result: The expressions of AR and ER in specimens of normal tissue and laryngeal benign lesion were negative. The expressions of AR in laryngeal carcinomas was 68.3%, the expressions of ER was 69.8%, which was not correlated with sex and clinical classification (P > 0.05). With the differentiation of pathologic-classify and clinical stage, the expressions of AR in carcinoma of larynx were significantly increased, but ER was opposite (P < 0.05). The expression of AR was observed more frequently in patients with lymph node metastasis, but the expression of ER was degraded (P < 0.05). Compared with carcinoma of larynx, the expressions of AR and ER in specimens of normal tissue laryngeal benign lesion were significantly different (P < 0.01).
Conclusion: The expressions of sex hormone acceptor are concerned with the incidence of carcinoma of larynx. The expressions of AR and ER are closely related to pathologic-classify, clinical stage and lymph node metastasis. AR promoted the growth of laryngeal carcinoma, but ER restrained it. AR and ER could be marked to understand malignant degree and prognosis, but they were not correlated with sex and clinical classification. The difference in expression of AR and ER does not explain the difference of sex and incidence of laryngeal carcinoma difference in expression of AR and ER, it shows that the significant difference of sex in the incidence of carcinoma of larynx may be concerned with other factors.