Thymidylate synthase as a predictor of response

It has been hypothesized that intratumoral thymidylate synthase (TS) gene expression might be used to select therapy for patients with disseminated colorectal cancer. We recently reported the results of a clinical trial in 46 patients with disseminated or recurrent colorectal cancer testing whether expression of TS within the primary tumor, as assessed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methodology, would predict the responsiveness of that cancer of fluoropyrimidine-based therapy. This trial demonstrated that intratumoral TS/beta-actin messenger RNA (mRNA) ratio can accurately predict which metastatic colorectal tumors will be resistant to a leucovorin-modulated 5-FU infusion and which have a high likelihood of responding to such a regimen. Results of other studies of adjuvant therapy in gastric cancer and colorectal cancer also indicated that TS expression within the tumor is predictive of response of 5-FU-based therapy. It may be possible to use this parameter prospectively to decide which patients should receive fluorinated pyrimidine therapy: Patients whose tumors express low TS levels would be likely to benefit from such therapy, whereas limited preliminary data suggest that patients whose tumors express high TS levels may benefit from irinotecan (CPT-11[Camptosar]).