ERCC1 and histopathology in advanced NSCLC patients randomized in a large multicenter phase III trial

Background: Customized chemotherapy is likely to improve outcome in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Excision repair cross-complementation group 1 (ERCC1) is a promising biomarker; however, current evidence is inadequate. Impact of ERCC1 status was evaluated among patients participating in a large randomized chemotherapy trial. Patients and methods: Four hundred and forty-three patients with advanced NSCLC were enrolled in a phase III trial and were randomly allocated to triplet chemotherapy or standard doublet regimen. Immunohistochemical evaluation for ERCC1 status was mainly carried out on bioptic material. Results: Two hundred and sixty-four (59.5%) patients had representative tissue samples for ERCC1 evaluation. Median overall survival (OS) in the ERCC1-negative and ERCC1-positive population was 11.8 and 9.8 months, respectively (P = 0.028). The median OS among patients with adenocarcinomas (n = 122) was 15.2 and 8.3 months, respectively (P = 0.007). Interaction analysis between ERCC1-negative status and adenocarcinomas yielded a hazard ratio of 0.64 for death (P = 0.002). Conclusions: Clinically applicable evaluation of ERCC1 status predicted cisplatin sensitivity in the largest randomized patient population with advanced NSCLC reported to date. The predictive value can be ascribed to the adenocarcinomas emphasizing the relevance of ERCC1 expression in this subgroup.