Human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1) predicts the Asian patient response to gemcitabine-based chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Individualized chemotherapy is important in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Therefore, markers for predicting a patient response to treatment must be identified. We studied the relationship between human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1) expression in tumor cells and the Asian patient response to gemcitabine-based chemotherapy. The aim of the study was to identify markers for individualized chemotherapy in Asian patients with pancreatic cancer. METHODOLOGY: Specimens from 44 Asian patients diagnosed with pancreatic adenocarcinoma were analyzed by immunohistochemistry for hENT1 expression in tumor cells. The correlations between hENT1 expression and various clinicopathological factors, including survival status, were studied. RESULTS: The overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in the hENT1 high-expression group were significantly longer than those of the hENT1 low or no-expression group: OS 21.75 months (95%CI=18.45-25.04 months) vs. 12.48 months (95%CI=10.12-14.85 months); DFS 15.44 months (95%CI=11.26-19.62 months) vs. 8.24 months (95%CI=8.69-9.78 months), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our studies suggest that hENT1 expression is related to the patient response to gemcitabine-based chemotherapy in Asian patients with pancreatic cancer. Therefore, hENT1 may be a valuable prognostic marker for individualized chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer.