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Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and Ki-67 are better predictors of survival than established clinical indicators in patients undergoing curative hepatic resection for colorectal metastases

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Abstract

Background

We evaluated hTERT and Ki-67 expression in patients who underwent curative resection of hepatic colorectal metastases to determine if these markers of cell proliferation correlated better with survival than an established scoring system that is based on clinical predictors.

Methods

Patients operated on between 1993 and 1997 whose survival time was known were analyzed. For each patient, the clinical prognostic score was derived on the basis of primary node status, disease-free interval, number of hepatic tumors, largest tumor, and carcinoembryonic antigen level, and tumor specimens were analyzed for Ki-67 and hTERT with use of standard immunohistochemical techniques. The immunohistochemical analysis was blinded to all patient characteristics.

Results

The study included 66 patients. Twenty-six survived less than 2 years after surgery, 19 survived 2–5 years, and 21 survived more than 5 years. Ki-67 positivity and hTERT positivity (labeling indexes greater than or equal to 50%) were observed in 24 patients and 23 patients, respectively. The clinical score did not predict survival, although there was a weak trend toward a lower score in patients with better survival. Both Ki-67 (P=.04) and hTERT (P=.0001) correlated better with survival than did the clinical score.

Conclusions

In patients undergoing curative resection of hepatic colorectal metastases, hTERT and Ki-67 are better predictors of survival than is a score based on clinical features.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., 77030-4009, Houston, TX

    David L. Smith MD, Rabih A. Nemr & Jean-Nicolas Vauthey MD

  2. Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., 77030-4009, Houston, TX

    Diane D. Liu MS

  3. Department of Pathology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., 77030-4009, Houston, TX

    Qinghua Yang MD & Asif Rashid MD, PhD

  4. Division of Cancer Medicine, the Gustave Roussy Institute, 39 Rue Camille Desmoulins, 94805, Villejuif, France

    Jean-Charles Soria MD, PhD & Luc Morat MS

  5. Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, Laboratoire de Radiobiologie et Oncologie, Fontenay aux Roses, France

    Jean-Charles Soria MD, PhD & Laure Sabatier PhD

Authors
  1. David L. Smith MD
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  2. Jean-Charles Soria MD, PhD
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  3. Luc Morat MS
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  4. Qinghua Yang MD
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  5. Laure Sabatier PhD
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  6. Diane D. Liu MS
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  7. Rabih A. Nemr
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  8. Asif Rashid MD, PhD
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  9. Jean-Nicolas Vauthey MD
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jean-Charles Soria MD, PhD or Jean-Nicolas Vauthey MD.

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Smith, D.L., Soria, JC., Morat, L. et al. Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and Ki-67 are better predictors of survival than established clinical indicators in patients undergoing curative hepatic resection for colorectal metastases. Annals of Surgical Oncology 11, 45–51 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02524345

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02524345

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