Impact of intratumoral expression levels of fluoropyrimidine-metabolizing enzymes on treatment outcomes of adjuvant S-1 therapy in gastric cancer

PLoS One. 2015 Mar 20;10(3):e0120324. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120324. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

We analyzed the expression levels of fluoropyrimidine-metabolizing enzymes (thymidylate synthase [TS], dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase [DPD], thymidine phosphorylase [TP] and orotate phosphoribosyltransferase [OPRT]) to identify potential biomarkers related to treatment outcomes in gastric cancer (GC) patients receiving adjuvant S-1 chemotherapy. In this study, 184 patients who received curative gastrectomy (D2 lymph node dissection) and adjuvant S-1 were included. Immunohistochemistry and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction were performed to measure the protein and mRNA levels of TS, DPD, TP, and OPRT in tumor tissue. In univariate analysis, low intratumoral DPD protein expression was related to poorer 5-year disease-free survival (DFS; 78% vs. 88%; P = 0.068). Low intratumoral DPD mRNA expression (1st [lowest] quartile) was also related to poorer DFS (69% vs. 90%; P < 0.001) compared to high intratumoral DPD expression (2nd to 4th quartiles). In multivariate analyses, low intratumoral DPD protein or mRNA expression was related to worse DFS (P < 0.05), irrespective of other clinical variables. TS, TP, and OPRT expression levels were not related to treatment outcomes. Severe non-hematologic toxicities (grade ≥ 3) had a trend towards more frequent development in patients with low intratumoral DPD mRNA expression (29% vs. 16%; P = 0.068). In conclusion, GC patients with high intratumoral DPD expression did not have inferior outcome following adjuvant S-1 therapy compared with those with low DPD expression. Instead, low intratumoral DPD expression was related to poor DFS.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / administration & dosage
  • Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / adverse effects
  • Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / therapeutic use*
  • Chemotherapy, Adjuvant
  • Drug Combinations
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic*
  • Humans
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Oxonic Acid / administration & dosage
  • Oxonic Acid / adverse effects
  • Oxonic Acid / therapeutic use*
  • Prognosis
  • Stomach Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Stomach Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Stomach Neoplasms / mortality
  • Stomach Neoplasms / pathology
  • Tegafur / administration & dosage
  • Tegafur / adverse effects
  • Tegafur / therapeutic use*
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic
  • Drug Combinations
  • S 1 (combination)
  • Tegafur
  • Oxonic Acid

Grants and funding

This study was partially supported by research grants from the Seoul National University Bundang Hospital Research Fund (02-2014-019) and Jeil Pharmaceutical Company (Seoul, Korea). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.