ERCC1 and the efficacy of cisplatin in patients with resected non-small cell lung cancer

Tumour Biol. 2014 Dec;35(12):12707-12. doi: 10.1007/s13277-014-2595-4. Epub 2014 Sep 13.

Abstract

Excision repair cross-complementing gene 1 (ERCC1) protein is proposed as a predictor for cisplatin efficacy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, recent studies declare that ERCC1 is not associated with the response of platinum-based chemotherapy or clinical outcomes. The purpose of this study is to assess whether ERCC1 expression level is linked to cisplatin sensitivity and clinical outcomes in resected NSCLC patients. Paraffin-embedded cancer samples from 112 patients were used for immunohistochemical staining. Cancer cells isolated from fresh tumor tissues were used to determine the sensitivity to cisplatin by MTT assay. The association between ERCC1 expression and cisplatin sensitivity was tested by Spearman's rho test. The correlation of ERCC1 expression with clinicopathologic parameters was evaluated by the chi-square tests. The relationship between variables and survival was assessed by log-rank test. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) curves were plotted by the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazards model was used for multivariate analysis of survival. ERCC1 expression was significantly correlated with the sensitivity of cisplatin in vitro (p < 0.01, r = 0.37). ERCC1 was not associated with OS (p = 0.17) or DFS (p = 0.13) in patients with resected NSCLC. ERCC1 is not a sensible marker for the choice of treatment in clinical patients with resected NSCLC.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use*
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / drug therapy*
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / genetics*
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / mortality
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / pathology
  • Cisplatin / administration & dosage
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / genetics*
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / genetics
  • Endonucleases / genetics*
  • Endonucleases / metabolism
  • Female
  • Gene Expression
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Lung Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Lung Neoplasms / mortality
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Grading
  • Neoplasm Staging
  • Prognosis
  • Risk Factors
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • ERCC1 protein, human
  • Endonucleases
  • Cisplatin