ERCC1 expression as a predictor of resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy in primary ovarian cancer.

AIM

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the possible association between Excision repair cross-complementing group 1 (ERCC1) score and platinum resistance in first-line chemotherapy for ovarian cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

ERCC1 Expression was determined using immunohisto-chemistry in 68 patients with platinum-responding tumor and 30 with platinum-resistant tumors. The primary end-point of this study was the association between the expression of ERCC1 protein with resistance to standard platinum-based chemotherapy in primary ovarian cancer.

RESULTS

In pairwise comparisons, the overall survival (OS) for patients with ovarian cancer, who were non-responders to platinum-based chemotherapy with low or intermediate H-score for ERCC1 was better than that of non-responders with high H-score for ERCC1 [median OS=21 (16.8-25.2 months) and 28 (14.6-41.4 months) vs. 15 months (6.2-23.8 months), p-value=0.048, and p-value=0.017, respectively].

CONCLUSION

There were no significant differences in the progression-free survival between those with low, intermediate and high H-score for ERCC1. There is no statistically significant relationship between ERCC1 score and response to platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with primary ovarian cancer.