Expression of the glucocorticoid receptor in breast cancer-associated fibroblasts

Cancer- associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are actively involved in breast carcinoma. Our previous study demonstrated that the majority of these CAFs were smooth muscle actin (SMA) positive and were therefore termed peritumoral myofibroblast (PMY). Glucocorticoid, linked or not with its receptor (GR), has been postulated to serve a major role in normal breast and breast carcinoma; however, their role in CAFs remains poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to assess the presence of GR in breast CAFs and particularly in PMY in 56 cases of invasive breast carcinoma in correlation with clinicopathological parameters, by immunohistochemistry. GR was observed in CAFs in 51 cases (91%) and were more frequent in luminal A subtype (19/19 cases; 100%). The stromal expression was statistically correlated with the tumor grade (P=0.03), the Ki-67 index (P=0.003) and the presence of GR in the epithelial component (P=0.01). The demonstration of a frequent expression of GR in breast CAFs may serve as an interesting target for future therapeutics for the regulation of the tumoral breast microenvironment.