Impact of the expression of thymidylate synthase and dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase genes on survival in stage II/III gastric cancer

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of 5-fluorouracil (5FU)-based therapy, which remains the cornerstone of gastrointestinal cancer treatment, depends upon the expression of enzymes involved in pyrimidine metabolism, including thymidylate synthase (TS), dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), thymidine phosphorylase (TP), and orotate phosphoribosyltransferase (OPRT). We analyzed the expression of these genes in patients enrolled in the Adjuvant Chemotherapy Trial of S-1 for Gastric Cancer (ACTS-GC) and their possible roles as biomarkers for treatment outcomes. METHODS: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens were available for 829 of a total of 1,059 (78.3 %) patients. TS, DPD, TP, and OPRT expression was measured by RT-PCR in manually microdissected tumor specimens and normalized to the reference gene, β-actin. The expression level of each gene was categorized as low or high using cutoffs at the 33.3rd, 50th, or 66.7th percentiles. RESULTS: The hazard ratio (HR) for overall survival (OS) after S-1 treatment versus surgery alone was significantly lower in high (>66.7th percentile; HR = 0.370; 95 % CI 0.221–0.619) compared to low (<66.7th percentile; HR = 0.757; 95 % CI 0.563–1.018) TS expression groups (P = 0.015). Similarly, the HR for OS after S-1 therapy versus surgery alone was significantly lower in high (>33.3rd percentile; HR = 0.520, 95 % CI 0.376–0.720) compared to low (<33.3rd percentile; HR = 0.848, 95 % CI 0.563–1.276) DPD expression groups (P = 0.065). There was no interaction between TP or OPRT expression and OS. CONCLUSIONS: This large biomarker study showed that high TS and DPD gene expression in tumors was associated with enhanced benefit from postoperative adjuvant S-1 treatment in gastric cancer. There was no interaction between TP and OPRT expression and S-1 treatment. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10120-014-0413-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.