Clinical evaluation of postoperative chemotherapy based on genetic testing in patients with stage IIIA non‐small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND: We performed a retrospective analysis to evaluate whether a postoperative chemotherapy selection method based on four tumoral gene expression tests would improve prognosis in patients with stage IIIA non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after surgery. METHODS: Between January 2007 and July 2011, 148 patients with stage IIIA NSCLC underwent radical lobectomy with four cycles of adjuvant postoperative chemotherapy. Forty‐five patients had tailored treatment plans based on the results of tumoral gene expression tests. The tests consisted of quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction analyses to measure the messenger ribonucleic acid levels of the excision repair cross‐complementing gene 1, ribonucleotide reductase Ml, type III β‐tubulin, and thymidylate synthase genes in tumor tissues. One hundred and three patients received conventional chemotherapy. Disease responses were assessed after two cycles and every three months after the first four cycles of chemotherapy. The one and two‐year survival rates and diesease‐free survival (DFS) rates were recorded, and the adverse effects documented. RESULTS: The one and two‐year DFS rates in the genetically tested group were better than those in the non‐tested group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The two‐year Kaplan–Meier DFS curve analysis results were significantly better in the genetically tested group (X(2) = 8.228, P = 0.004). The adverse effects during the treatments were not significantly different (P > 0.05) between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The chemotherapy selection method based on four tumoral gene expression tests demonstrated its feasibility to improve the efficacy of adjuvant postoperative chemotherapy and benefit stage IIIA NSCLC patients by yielding better DFS without increasing the adverse effects of chemotherapy.