Prognostic significance of ERCC1 expression in resected non small cell lung carcinoma.

Background And Aim: The effects of DNA repair pathway on survival were assessed by measuring the tumoral excision repair cross complementation 1 (ERCC1) expression in patients with resected non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). We aimed to determine the prognostic and predictive significance of ERCC1 in patients with completely resected NSCLC.

Methods: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to assess the expression of ERCC1 in resected lung tumor samples obtained from 98 patients untreated without pre- or post-operative chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. The median H score was used as a cut-off for ERCC1 IHC. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed for factors influencing patient survival.

Results: The 5-year survival rates of patients for ERCC1 positive expression and ERCC1 negative expression were 76% and 49%, respectively; this difference was statistically significant (p = 0.004). Subsequent multivariate analysis suggested that ERCC1 expression (adjusted hazard ratio for death, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.18 to 0.78; p = 0.008) and pathological stage (2.2; 95% CI, 1.09 to 4.5; p = 0.027) were both independent prognostic factors.

Conclusion: The level of ERCC1 expression in tumors a strong predictor of survival in resected NSCLC patients untreated without pre- or post-operative chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy.