ERCC1 protein, mRNA expression and T19007C polymorphism as prognostic markers in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients treated with surgery and adjuvant cisplatin-based chemoradiation

• Published in: Oncology reports Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 693 - 699
• Main Authors: DE CASTRO, Gilberto, SOLANGE PASINI, Fatima, COELHO SIQUEIRA, Sheila Aparecida, ROSSETTI FERRAZ, Alberto, CORREA VILLAR, Rosangela, LONGO SNITCOVSKY, Igor Moysés, HONDA FEDERICO, Miriam Hatsue
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Athens Spandidos 01-03-2011
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers, Tumor - genetics; Biomarkers, Tumor - metabolism; Carcinoma - diagnosis; Carcinoma - genetics; Carcinoma - mortality; Carcinoma - therapy; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; Cisplatin - administration & dosage; Combined Modality Therapy; Digestive System Surgical Procedures; DNA-Binding Proteins - genetics; DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Endonucleases - genetics; Endonucleases - metabolism; Female; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Head and Neck Neoplasms - diagnosis; Head and Neck Neoplasms - genetics; Head and Neck Neoplasms - mortality; Head and Neck Neoplasms - therapy; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neoplasms, Squamous Cell - diagnosis; Neoplasms, Squamous Cell - genetics; Neoplasms, Squamous Cell - mortality; Neoplasms, Squamous Cell - therapy; Otorhinolaryngology (head neck, general aspects and miscellaneous); Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide - physiology; Prognosis; Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; Retrospective Studies; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck; Survival Analysis; Tumors; Antineoplastic agent; Prognosis; Genetic variability; Biological marker; Repair gene; Cancerology; Messenger RNA; Surgery; ENT disease; Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; Complementation; Repair; single nucleotide polymorphisms; Platinum II Complexes; Human; Excision; Genotype; Malignant tumor; Radiotherapy; Cisplatin; Protein; Alkylating agent; Chemotherapy; excision repair cross-complementation group 1; Treatment; Head and neck cancer; Combined treatment; Single nucleotide polymorphism; chemoradiation; Cancer
• ISSN: 1021-335X; 1791-2431
• DOI: 10.3892/or.2011.1133

Adjuvant cisplatin-based chemoradiation improves survival in HNSCC patients presenting with risk features. ERCC1 (excision repair cross-complementation group 1) is associated with resistance to chemo- and radiation therapy and may have a prognostic value in HNSCC patients. Here we studied ERCC1 expression and the polymorphism T19007C as prognostic markers in these patients. This is a retrospective and translational analysis, where ERCC1 protein expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry, using an H-score, and mRNA expression was determined by RT-PCR. T19007C genotypes were detected by PCR-RFLP carried out using DNA template extracted from normal lymph nodes. A high H-score was seen in 32 patients (54%), who presented better 5-year overall survival (5-y OS: 50% vs. 18%, HR 0.43, p=0.026). Fifteen out of 45 patients (33%), with high mRNA expression, presented better 5-year overall survival (OS) (86% vs. 30%, HR 0.26, p=0.052). No OS difference was detected among T19007C genotypes. High H-score and mRNA expression remained significant as favorable prognostic factors in a multivariate analysis. Collectively, our results suggest that high ERCC1 expression seems to be associated with better OS rates in HNSCC patients submitted to adjuvant cisplatin-based chemoradiation.