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Plasma thymidylate synthase and dihydrofolate reductase mRNA levels as potential predictive biomarkers of pemetrexed sensitivity in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer
- Source :
- J Thorac Dis
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- AME Publishing Company, 2020.
-
Abstract
- Background High levels of thymidylate synthase (TS) and dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) expression in tumour tissues are an indicator of ineffective responses to pemetrexed-based chemotherapy in various tumours, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, tumour tissues are highly heterogeneous, so a single biopsy may not reflect genetic alterations during disease progression. This study investigated the potential use of plasma TS and DHFR mRNA levels as biomarkers for predicting sensitivity to pemetrexed-based chemotherapy. Methods Plasma samples were obtained from 245 patients with advanced NSCLC and 30 healthy donors. Total RNA was extracted from the plasma samples, and TS and DHFR mRNA levels were determined via real-time PCR. TS and DHFR mRNA levels between cancer patients and healthy controls were compared. The association between plasma TS and DHFR mRNA levels and tumour response to pemetrexed/cisplatin chemotherapy was analysed. Results The plasma TS and DHFR mRNA levels decreased in patients with advanced NSCLC compared with healthy controls. Moreover, plasma TS and DHFR mRNA levels negatively correlated with tumour response to pemetrexed/cisplatin chemotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC. Overall survival time was prolonged in patients with low TS mRNA expression compared with those with high TS mRNA expression, although the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusions Low expression levels of plasma TS and DHFR mRNA confer increased tumour sensitivity to pemetrexed/cisplatin chemotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC. The results suggested that plasma TS and DHFR mRNA levels are promising biomarkers for choosing patients who are likely to respond and benefit the most from pemetrexed-based chemotherapy.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
Cisplatin
Chemotherapy
biology
business.industry
medicine.medical_treatment
Cancer
non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
medicine.disease
Thymidylate synthase
03 medical and health sciences
030104 developmental biology
0302 clinical medicine
Pemetrexed
030220 oncology & carcinogenesis
parasitic diseases
Dihydrofolate reductase
medicine
biology.protein
Cancer research
Original Article
business
Lung cancer
medicine.drug
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 20776624 and 20721439
- Volume :
- 12
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Thoracic Disease
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....17304c512d89f60be2eae1711edc7650