RRM1, ERCC1 and TS1 Immunofluorescence Expression in Leiomyosarcoma: A Tissue Microarray Study with Clinical Outcome Correlation Analysis.

Unlabelled: ERCC1, RRM1 and TS1 are reportedly linked to chemotherapy resistance in lung and other cancers. However, there are currently no studies reporting the relationship between these genes and clinical parameters in leiomyosarcomas.

Method: This study investigated the expression pattern of ERCC1, RRM1 and TS1 in forty-four leiomyosarcoma samples by the use of tissue microarray (TMA), immunofluorescence and AQUA methods. The results were then analyzed for expression level and correlations were made with clinical outcome to determine their potential prognostic value in leiomyosarcoma.

Results: In the forty-four samples studied, the expression level of these three proteins can be well quantified in the AQUA system and reflected by the AQUA score. RRM1 and ERCC1 expression levels did not show any relationship with overall survival. However, a correlation was found between TS1 expression in the cytoplasm and overall survival. The high expression group had a shorter overall survival time (log-rank p = 0.0498). This trend was confirmed by the Cox proportional hazards model.

Discussion: The poor overall survival of leiomyosarcoma is linked to TS1 cytoplasm expression which may be useful in predicting prognoses of this tumor, methods targeting expression of TS1 may lead to improved overall survival in leiomyosarcoma, though more detailed information regarding treatment information and a larger sample size is needed to confirm this phenomenon.