Expression of RRM1 and its association with resistancy to gemcitabine-based chemotherapy in advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
- Author:
Li-Ping ZHAO
1
;
Cong XUE
;
Jian-Wei ZHANG
;
Zhi-Huang HU
;
Yuan-Yuan ZHAO
;
Jing ZHANG
;
Yan HUANG
;
Hong-Yun ZHAO
;
Li ZHANG
Author Information
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH: Adult; Aged; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; therapeutic use; Deoxycytidine; analogs & derivatives; therapeutic use; Disease-Free Survival; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; Female; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Middle Aged; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms; drug therapy; metabolism; pathology; Neoplasm Staging; Remission Induction; Retrospective Studies; Survival Rate; Tumor Suppressor Proteins; metabolism
- From:Chinese Journal of Cancer 2012;31(10):476-483
- CountryChina
- Language:English
- Abstract: Gemcitabine has high activity against nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The level of ribonucleotide reductase subunit M1 (RRM1) expression is closely related to the efficacy of gemcitabine on non-small cell lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. However, the expression of RRM1 and its association with sensitivity to gemcitabine-based chemotherapy in advanced NPC is not known. In this study, we retrospectively collected 48 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded NPC tissues to evaluate the expression of RRM1 using immunohistochemistry. All patients were diagnosed and treated with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. RRM1 expression was positive in 17(35%) patients. RRM1 expression was not associated with sex, age, performance status, WHO histological type, number of distant metastases, previous treatment, or cycles of gemcitabine-based chemotherapy(P> 0.05). The progression-free survival of the RRM1-positive group was shorter than that of the RRM1-negative group (5 months vs. 7 months, P = 0.036), and the response rate of the RRM1-positive group was somewhat lower than that of the RRM1-negative group (51.6% vs. 35.3%, P = 0.278). There was no significant difference in median survival between the RRM1-positive and RRM1-negative groups (22 months vs. 19 months, P = 0.540). Our results show that RRM1-negative expression is related with longer progression-free survival in advanced NPC patients treated with gemcitabine-based regimens.
