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Thymidylate synthetase mRNA levels are increased in liver metastases of colorectal cancer patients resistant to fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy.
- Source :
-
BMC cancer [BMC Cancer] 2004 Mar 25; Vol. 4, pp. 11. Date of Electronic Publication: 2004 Mar 25. - Publication Year :
- 2004
-
Abstract
- Background: Fluoropyrimidines such as 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and 5-fluoro-2'deoxyuridine (FUDR) are among the most effective chemotherapeutic agents for treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). Increased expression of thymidylate synthetase (TS) in CRC metastases has been proposed to be an important mechanism of resistance to fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy.<br />Methods: The present study investigated whether TS mRNA levels in liver metastases of 20 CRC patients before treatment with FUDR by hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) correlated with frequency of clinical response or survival duration.<br />Results: Median survival duration of patients with TS mRNA levels above and below the median was 15 and 18 months, respectively (p > 0.05). Clinical response was achieved in 40% of patients with low TS mRNA levels, but in only 20% of patients with high TS mRNA levels (p = 0.01). TS mRNA levels were also measured for liver metastases of 7 of the patients that did not achieve a clinical response. A statistically significant increase in expression of TS mRNA was observed for liver metastases resistant to chemotherapy (21 +/- 14) in comparison to liver metastases of the same patients before chemotherapy (8 +/- 4) (p = 0.03).<br />Conclusion: This is the first report to demonstrate increased TS expression in liver metastases from CRC patients resistant to fluoropyrimidine based chemotherapy. These findings are consistent with previous studies indicating that increased TS expression is associated with resistance to fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Aged
Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic administration & dosage
Female
Floxuridine administration & dosage
Humans
Infusions, Intra-Arterial
Male
Middle Aged
RNA, Messenger analysis
Colorectal Neoplasms
Drug Resistance, Neoplasm
Liver Neoplasms drug therapy
Liver Neoplasms enzymology
Liver Neoplasms secondary
Neoplasm Proteins analysis
Thymidylate Synthase analysis
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1471-2407
- Volume :
- 4
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- BMC cancer
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 15040806
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2407-4-11