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Association of time to recurrence with thymidylate synthase and dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase mRNA expression in stage II and III colorectal cancer

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Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery

Abstract

Patients with International Union Against Cancer (UICC) stage IIb and III colon cancer and stage II and III rectal cancer may receive adjuvant chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). High levels of thymidylate synthase (TS) and dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) have been associated with resistance to 5-FU in advanced colorectal cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of TS and DPD mRNA levels with recurrence-free survival in patients with colorectal cancer who are receiving adjuvant 5-FU-based chemotherapy. TS and DPD mRNA quantitation was retrospectively performed in primary colorectal cancer specimens from patients receiving adjuvant 5-FU using a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction technique. The median TS mRNA level in patients with a recurrence (n = 142) was 0.68, and in patients without a recurrence (n = 206) the median level was 0.80 (P < 0.01). Patients with a recurrence who had a low TS level (TS ≤ 0.9; n = 102) had a median recurrence-free survival of 18 months (range 3.0 to 54 months), and those with a high TS level (TS > 0.9; n = 40) had a median recurrence-free survival of 11 months (range 1.7 to 53 months; P = 0.0024). There was no difference in the median recurrence-free survival of patients with low and high DPD mRNA levels. The TS mRNA level may be a useful marker to predict the time to recurrence in patients with colorectal cancer who are receiving adjuvant 5-FU treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Surgery, University of Ulm, Steinhövelstr 9, 89075, Ulm, Germany

    Marko Kornmann M.D., Karl H. Link M.D., Sucan Polat M.D. & Hans G. Beger M.D.

  2. Department of Pathology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany

    Jörn Sträter M.D.

  3. Department of Medicine, Städtisches Klinikum Krankenhaus Altstadt, Magdeburg, Germany

    Erika Kettner M.D.

  4. Department of Surgery I, Diakoniekrankenhaus Rotenburg, Rotenburg, Germany

    Christoph Schlichting M.D.

  5. Department of General Surgery, Klinikum am Eichert, Göppingen, Germany

    Wolfram Baumann M.D.

  6. Department of Surgery, Wald-Klinikum Gera, Germany

    Harald Schramm M.D.

  7. Department of Medicine, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University, Greifswald, Germany

    Ute Hecker M.D.

  8. Department of Surgery, Otto-von-Juerich University, Magdeburg, Germany

    Karsten Ridwelski M.D.

  9. Department of Surgery, St. Vinzenz-Krankenhaus, Hanau, Germany

    Jürgen H. Vogt M.D.

  10. Department of Surgery I, Kreiskrankenhaus, Lüdenscheid, Germany

    Klaus-Ullrich Zerbian M.D.

  11. Department of General Surgery, Marienhospital Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

    Bernhard Leibl

  12. Department of Surgery, Winterberg-Kliniken, Saarbrücken, Germany

    Frank Schütze M.D.

  13. Department of Hematology and Oncology, Krankenhaus Barmherzige Brüder, Regensburg, Germany

    Ernst D. Kreuser M.D.

  14. Oncoscreen Research Institute, Jena, Germany

    Inga Galuba, Kati Ott, Wolfgang Schwabe Ph.D., Peter Häusler Ph.D., Peter Scholz & Detlev Behnke Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Marko Kornmann M.D.
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  2. Karl H. Link M.D.
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  3. Inga Galuba
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  4. Kati Ott
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  5. Wolfgang Schwabe Ph.D.
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  6. Peter Häusler Ph.D.
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  7. Peter Scholz
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  8. Jörn Sträter M.D.
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  9. Sucan Polat M.D.
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  10. Bernhard Leibl
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  11. Erika Kettner M.D.
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  12. Christoph Schlichting M.D.
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  13. Wolfram Baumann M.D.
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  14. Harald Schramm M.D.
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  15. Ute Hecker M.D.
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  16. Karsten Ridwelski M.D.
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  17. Jürgen H. Vogt M.D.
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  18. Klaus-Ullrich Zerbian M.D.
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  19. Frank Schütze M.D.
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  20. Ernst D. Kreuser M.D.
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  21. Detlev Behnke Ph.D.
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  22. Hans G. Beger M.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hans G. Beger M.D..

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Kornmann, M., Link, K.H., Galuba, I. et al. Association of time to recurrence with thymidylate synthase and dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase mRNA expression in stage II and III colorectal cancer. J Gastrointest Surg 6, 331–337 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1091-255X(02)00018-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1091-255X(02)00018-5

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