AR-V7 splice variant

aka AR-V7, AR-V7 positive, androgen receptor splice variant 7, AR-V7 CTC, nuclear AR-V7

AR-V7 is a shortened androgen receptor that lacks the part hormone drugs bind, so it stays active without testosterone. Found in circulating tumour cells, it predicts poor response to abiraterone and enzalutamide, but no label uses it yet.

The AR-V7 transcript skips the ligand-binding domain and is detected by RT-PCR of circulating tumour cell RNA or by nuclear AR-V7 protein immunofluorescence in CTCs (the Oncotype DX AR-V7 Nucleus Detect assay, a laboratory-developed test). The prospective PROPHECY trial (NCT02269982) showed that AR-V7-positive men had shorter progression-free and overall survival on abiraterone or enzalutamide, while taxane response was preserved. No regulator has put AR-V7 in a label and no companion diagnostic exists; it is a guideline-discussed, not guideline-mandated, test.

Part ofAndrogen receptor· AR All readouts

Androgen receptor: what it is and how drugs act on it · animated schematic, not to scale

Target · the protein and the cell it sits on
Drug · antibody, small molecule, cell or radioligand
Effect · signal, damage or kill

In plain words · The hormone switch that drives prostate cancer, attacked by castration and by pills that block the receptor.

Sequencing No approval threshold

What it means for a patient

An AR-V7-positive result suggests that abiraterone and enzalutamide are less likely to work and that chemotherapy or a radioligand may be a better next step, but no approval depends on it and it is not routinely offered outside specialist centres. A negative result does not guarantee response.

Written only from the label or guideline text cited on this page. Not medical advice; your own report and the reading your team gives it come first.

Scoring rule

Detection of the AR-V7 transcript in circulating tumour cell RNA by RT-PCR, or nuclear-localised AR-V7 protein in circulating tumour cells by immunofluorescence; no label defines a threshold.