Correlation of TUBB3 expression with chemotherapy sensitivity and clinical outcome of advanced gastric cancer treated with paclitaxel-based chemotherapy / 中国肿瘤临床

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the expression of class IIIβ-tubulin (TUBB3) in advanced gastric cancer and analyze its correlation with the chemotherapeutic effect of paclitaxel and the prognosis of patients. Methods:This study reviewed 49 cases with advanced gastric cancer, diagnosed from December 2008 to December 2011 at Shaoyang Central Hospital. All patients were treated with paclitax-el or docetaxel-based chemotherapy. TUBB3 expression was determined using immunohistochemistry. Relationships of the expression of TUBB3 protein with chemotherapy response, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. Results:Among the 46 valid cases treated with paclitaxel or docetaxel-based regimen, treatment response was as followscomplete response (CR) in 1 patient, partial response (PR) in 17 patients, stable disease (SD) in 22 patients, and progression disease (PD) in 6 patients. The overall response rate (CR+PR) was 39.13％(18/46). The chemotherapy response rates in low and high TUBB3 expression groups were 54.17％(13/24) and 22.73％(5/22), respectively (χ2=4.736, P=0.029). The patients with low TUBB3 expression had significantly longer median PFS and OS than those with high TUBB3 expression (PFS 5.9 vs. 3.9 months, P=0.032;OS 11.6 vs. 7.9 months, P=0.001). Univar-iate analysis and multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the expression of TUBB3 was an independent prognostic factor in advanced gastric cancer. Conclusions:The present study demonstrates that TUBB3 expression in advanced gastric cancer is associated with chemotherapy response and prognosis;especifically, the low expression group had a better chemotherapy response and progno-sis than the high expression group. The result of this study may provide a new sight for tailored chemotherapy and for predicting prog-nosis of individuals with advanced gastric cancer.