Androgen Receptor Mutations and Polymorphisms in African American Prostate Cancer

The study from 2014 investigated androgen receptor (AR) mutations and polymorphisms in African American (AA) men with prostate cancer (PCa) and found that somatic AR mutations were more prevalent in AAs (17 out of 200 cases) compared to Caucasian Americans (CAs) (2 out of 100 cases). Germline AR mutations were also more common in AAs, being approximately 4 times higher than in CAs. The E213 A-allele of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was significantly more frequent in healthy AA men than in CA men. In cell line experiments, silencing a specific somatic AR mutation (597 Ser>Gly) in an AA-PCa cell line resulted in increased cell migration and invasion but decreased proliferation, suggesting that AR mutations may contribute to the aggressiveness of PCa in AAs. The findings indicate a potential genetic basis for the observed ethnic differences in PCa aggressiveness and outcomes.