Abstract
The purpose of this work was to analyse the ability of p53 and thymidilate synthase (TS) primary tumour expression to retrospectively predict clinical response to chemotherapy and long-term prognosis in patients with advanced colorectal cancers homogeneously treated by methotrexate (MTX)-modulated-5-fluorouracil (5-FU-FA). A total of 108 advanced colorectal cancer patients entered the present retrospective study. Immunohistochemical p53 (pAb 1801 mAb) and TS (TS106 mAb) expression on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded primary tumour specimens was related to probability of clinical response to chemotherapy, time to progression and overall survival. p53 was expressed in 53/108 (49%) tumours, while 54/108 (50%) showed TS immunostaining. No relationship was demonstrated between p53 positivity and clinical response to chemotherapy (objective response (OR), 20% vs 23%, in p53+ and p53- cases respectively) or overall survival. Percent of OR was significantly higher in TS-negative with respect to TS-positive tumours (30% vs 15% respectively; P <0.04); simultaneous analysis of TS and p53 indicated 7% OR for p53-positive/TS-positive tumours vs 46% for p53-positive/TS-negative tumours (P <0.03). Logistic regression analysis confirmed a significant association between TS tumour status and clinical response to chemotherapy hazard ratio (HR): 2.91; 95% confidence interval (CI) 8.34-1.01, two-sided P <0.05). A multivariate analysis of overall survival showed that only a small number of metastatic sites was statistically relevant (HR 1.89; 95% CI 2.85-1.26; two-sided P <0.03). Our study suggests that immunohistochemical expression of p53 and TS could assist the clinician in predicting response of colorectal cancer patients to modulated MTX-5-FU therapy. (C) 2000 Cancer Research Campaign.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 560-567 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | British Journal of Cancer |
Volume | 82 |
Issue number | 3 |
Publication status | Published - 2000 |
Keywords
- Colorectal cancer
- p53
- Predictive factor
- Prognosis
- TS
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cancer Research
- Oncology