Different impact of excision repair cross-complementation group 1 on survival in male and female patients with inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer treated with carboplatin and gemcitabine.
OBJECTIVE
The excision repair cross-complementation group 1 (ERCC1) status was assessed in patients receiving carboplatin and gemcitabine for inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We analyzed the association between the ERCC1 status and the overall survival after the chemotherapy.


METHODS
We retrospectively identified 163 patients with inoperable NSCLC and sufficient tumor tissue for ERCC1 analysis, who had received carboplatin and gemcitabine as first-line treatment. Immunohistochemistry was used to assess the expression of ERCC1.


RESULTS
One hundred sixty-three patients were included. Seventy (42%) were ERCC1 positive. Patients treated with carboplatin and gemcitabine and having ERCC1-negative tumors had a significantly increased survival when compared to patients with ERCC1-positive tumors (median survival, 12.0 months v 8.2 months; P = .02). This difference was mainly seen in men, where those with ERCC1-negative tumors had a significantly increased survival compared to men with ERCC1-positive tumors (median survival, 11.8 months v 7.9 months; P = .005). Conversely, women who were ERCC1 negative did not have a survival advantage over ERCC1-positive women.


CONCLUSIONS
We confirmed previous reports that ERCC1 expression is predictive for outcome in patients treated with carboplatin and gemcitabine. Patients with ERCC1-negative tumors had an increased survival compared to patients with ERCC1-positive tumors and this difference was mainly attributable to a survival difference among men.
Holm
Bente
B
Department of Oncology, Herlev Hospital, DK-2730 Herlev, Denmark. bholm@dadlnet.dk
Mellemgaard
Anders
A
Skov
Torsten
T
Skov
Birgit Guldhammer
BG
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016190:Carboplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D004720:Endonucleases / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000093542:Gemcitabine
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D003841:Deoxycytidine; D016190:Carboplatin; C071447:ERCC1 protein, human; D004720:Endonucleases; D000093542:Gemcitabine