Therefore, we performed the present meta-analysis of eligible studies to derive a more precise evaluation of the association between ERCC1 expression and the clinical outcome in SCLC patients receiving platinum-based chemotherapy.
The favorable expression signature expression signature (low expression of ERCC1, PKM2, TOPOIIA and TOPOIIB) was correlated with significantly better PFS and Os in both LS-SCLC (p<0.001 and p=0.007, respectively) and ES-SCLC (p=0.007 and (p=0.011, respectively) group.
Multi-centric prospective trials using a validated method of ERCC1 determination are mandatory in order to obtain a definitive answer on the predictive value of ERCC1 in SCLC.
In summary, our results suggest the use of ERCC1 immunohistochemistry and TOP I mRNA analysis to predict cisplatin response and prognosis in SCLC patients.
ERCC1 and TopoIIalpha are candidate markers in predicting clinical outcome and response to treatment in LD SCLC patients and are worth of further investigation in a prospective study.
We tested whether genetic variants in the ERCC1 gene are associated with susceptibility to lung cancer and efficacy of platinum-chemotherapy in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC).