Effect of ERCC1 polymorphism on the response to chemotherapy and clinical outcome of non-small cell lung cancer

We conducted a cohort study to investigate the role of 3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the excision repair cross-complementation group 1 (ERCC1) gene on the response to chemotherapy and clinical outcomes of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A total of 163 patients with newly diagnosed and histopathologically confirmed primary NSCLC were examined in our study and were followed up until December 2012. ERCC1 rs11615, rs3212986, and rs2298881 were selected and genotyped. Of the 163 patients, 86 patients showed a complete response and partial response to chemotherapy (52.76%), while 91 patients (55.83%) died from NSCLC during the follow-up period with a median survival time of 19.3 months (range, 2-60 months). Multivariate regression analysis showed that individuals carrying the rs11615 TT genotype and T allele had a significantly lower response rate to chemotherapy using the rs11615 CC genotype as the reference. For rs3212986, carriers of the rs3212986 AA genotype and A allele had a significantly lower response rate to chemotherapy when compared with the CC genotype. In the Cox proportional hazards model, patients carrying the rs11615 TT genotype and T allele and the rs3212986 AA genotype and A allele were significantly associated with increased risk of death from NSCLC. We found that polymorphisms in ERCC1 rs11615 and rs3212986 were associated with poor response to chemotherapy and shorter survival time of advanced NSCLC.