The expression of ERCC1 and BRCA1 predicts prognosis of platinum-based chemotherapy in urothelial cancer

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression and clinical significance of ERCC1 and BRCA1 genes in urothelial cancer patients. METHODS: Forty-two urothelial cancer patients who did not receive platinum-based chemotherapy during January 2009 to May 2013 were enrolled. The expression levels of ERCC1 and BRCA1 were determined by immunohistochemistry and the median survival time (MST) for these patients was calculated. RESULTS: ERCC1-positive patients who received oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy had a shorter MST than ERCC1-negative patients (P<0.05), whereas there is no difference of MST between BRCA1-positive and -negative patients. Furthermore, MST in ERCC1 and BRCA1 double-positive patients was shorter than ERCC1 and BRCA1 double-negative patients (P<0.05). The positive expression of ERCC1 had a significant positive correlation with BRCA1 (r=0.313, P=0.044). CONCLUSION: The expression level of ERCC1 may be used as a prognostic marker for urothelial cancer patients who received postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy.