Impact of PARP-1 and DNA-PK expression on survival in patients with glioblastoma multiforme

Purpose: To analyze, whether higher tumor levels of DNA repair enzymes contribute to worse treatment results of glioblastoma multiforme (GEM) patients after postoperative radiotherapy. Materials and methods: Thirty four patients with GBM received postoperative radiotherapy. Tumor sections were examined for poly-ADP ribose polymerase-1 (PARP-1) and DNA protein kinase (DNA-PK) expression. Immunohistochemical staining intensities of PARP-1 and DNA-PK were determined (score 0-3) and expression levels were correlated with patients overall survival. Results: Median survival time of the whole study group was 10.0 months (95% CI 8.1-11.9). Median survival of patients with high and low (>= median and