Expression of ERCC1 in the patients with non-small-cell lung cancer

Background and purpose:ERCC1 is an important member of the DNA repair gene family. Its low expression is often associated with genetic instability leading to more malignant tumors.We investigated the expression of ERCC1 in the patients with non-small cell lung cancer and its clinical prognostic significance.Methods:Expression levels of ERCC1 in 63 patients with non-small-cell lung cacner were detected with the method of immunohistochemistry. Expression differences of ERCC1 and its relationship with the patients' survival were analyzed with χ~ 2 test、Kaplan-Meier survival curve and COX regression.Results:There were 22 cases expressing ERCC1 (35%). Expression rates for ERCC1 in pulmonary adenocarcinoma and squamous adenocarcinoma were 57% and 60%,respectively and were significantly higher than that in squamous carcinoma (29%). It was also more highly expressed in the patients under the age of 60 than in those over the age of 60. COX multivariate regression analysis showed that gender, disease stages, and ERCC1 expression were independent prognostic factors in the patients.Conclusions:In non-small cell lung cancer, ERCC1 is expressed with significantly higher expression in adenocarcinoma.