Prognostic and predictive role of ERCC1 protein expression in locally advanced stage III non-small cell lung cancer

Systemic therapy improves the survival and quality of life of patients with advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Several new therapeutic options have emerged for advanced NSCLC, incorporating novel cytotoxicity agents (taxanes, gemcitabine, pemetrexed) and molecular-targeted agents (erlotinib, bevacizumab) and the optimal prognostic marker for survival remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to assess the prognostic value of the clinicopathologic features and excision repair cross-complementation group-1 (ERCC1) in locally advanced NSCLC patients that received cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Clinical data concerning 80 patients with histopathologically confirmed non-small cell lung cancer who are planned to receive cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy were collected. The protein expression levels for ERCC1 are immunohistochemical examined in 80 patients. The relationship between the ERCC1 protein expression level and the clinical outcomes of the patients is then observed. The 3-year survival rate and median survival time of stage III NSCLC received chemotherapy with/without concurrent chemoradiotherapy were 20 % and 10 months, respectively. Survival of patients with ERCC1-negative tumors was significantly longer than those with ERCC1-positive tumors (p = 0.0001). Prognostic factors with overall survival were performance status, cigarette smoking, stage, weight loss and ERCC1. While as regard progression-free survival prognostic factors were stage, weight loss, ERCC1 and degree of positivity of ERCC1 progression. It was found that ERCC1 protein expression might play an important role in the prognosis of locally advanced NSCLC patients treated with cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy.