Combined analysis of mRNA expression of ERCC1, BAG-1, BRCA1, RRM1 and TUBB3 to predict prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer who received adjuvant chemotherapy

Messenger RNA expressions of these genes were examined in 85 tumor tissues and 34 adjacent tissue samples using semi-quantitative RT-PCR. The expressions of these five genes were analyzed in relation to chemotherapy and progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Seventy-four patients were enrolled into chemotherapy.Patients with ERCC1 or BAG-1 negative expression had a significantly longer PFS (P = 0.001 and P = 0.001) and OS (P = 0.001 and P = 0.001) than those with positive expression. Patients with negative ERCC1 and BAG-1 expression benefited more from platinum regimen (P = 0.001 and P = 0.002). Patients with BRCA1 negative expression might have a longer OS (P = 0.052), but not PFS (P = 0.088) than those with BRCA1 positive expression. A significant relationship was observed between the mRNA expression of ERCC1 and BAG-1 (P = 0.042). In multivariate analysis, ERCC1 and BAG-1 were significantly favorable factors for PFS (P = 0.018 and P = 0.017) and OS (P = 0.027 and P = 0.022).ERCC1 and BAG-1 are determinants of survival after surgical treatment of NSCLC, and its mRNA expression in tumor tissues could be used to predict the prognosis of NSCLC treated by platinum.Lung cancer is a common malignant tumor, and was the first ranked cause of cancer death in both males and females [1]. As one of the most prevalent malignant tumors in China, lung cancer has been highlighted with emphasis for cancer prevention and treatment. Recently, the combinations of cytotoxic agents (such as gemcitabine, vinorelbine, and taxane) and platinum become new standard for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). But the resistance to these drugs causes unsatisfactory of overall survival rate. Therefore, it is very important to understand the molecular markers of resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs.The excision repair cross-complementing 1 (ERCC1) is a DNA damage repair gene that encodes the 5' endonuclease of the NER complex, and is one of the key enzymes of the nucleotide exci