[Correlation between expression of excision repair cross-complementing 1 and cisplatin sensitivity in non-small cell...

To investigate the correlation between excision repair cross-complementing 1 (ERCC1) expression and cisplatin sensitivity in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

A total of 168 NSCLC patients were selected from our hospital from January 2005 to December 2007. The expression of ERCC1 protein was analyzed by immunohistochemistry and ERCC1 mRNA tested by RT-PCR. Analyses were performed to determine the correlation between expression of ERCC1 and chemotherapeutic sensitivity in NSCLC.

A positive expression of ERCC1 protein was found in 99 (58.93%) patients. The expression of ERCC1 had no correlation with gender, age, stage and pathological types (P > 0.05). Among all patients, 133 were followed up for about 3-5 years and 91 cases belonged to the responding group. Three cases with stage Ia-Ib underwent only operation without chemotherapy. And 76 (58.46%) patients were positive for ERCC1 expression in 130 cases. In the responding group, 38 (43.18%) cases had a positive expression of ERCC1 and 50 (56.82%)cases a negative expression of ERCC1. In the non-responding group, 37 (88.10%)cases had a positive expression of ERCC1 and 5 (11.90%) cases a negative expression of ERCC1. The expression of ERCC1 decreased in the responding group versus the non-responding group (χ(2) = 23.50, P < 0.01). The expressions of ERCC1 mRNA were (0.624 ± 0.275) and (2.758 ± 0.771) in the responding and non-responding groups respectively (t = 11.54, P = 0.013).

An elevated expression of ERCC1 is an important factor for cisplatin insensitivity in NSCLC. It may provide an useful reference for designing individualized chemotherapeutic regimens for NSCLC patients.