Objective: To investigate the influences of PC cell-derived growth factor (PCDGF) and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) on the curative effects of platinum-based chemotherapeutic regimens for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Methods: Specimens of cancer were collected from 87 chemotherapy-naive patients with advanced NSCLC, 61 males and 26 females, aged 42 - 75. Immunohistochemistry was used to examine the expression of PCDGF and BCRP. After the collection of pathological specimens the patients underwent platinum-based chemotherapy. The relationship between the expression of PCDGF and BCRP and the curative effects of chemotherapy was analyzed.
Results: The overall response rate (OR) to chemotherapy of the 87 patients was 41.38% (36/87), 36 of the patients were chemosensitive (41.38%), and the other 51 were chemoresistant (58.62%). Forty-six of the 87 patients (52.9%) were PCDGF positive, the PCDGF positive rate of the chemoresistant patients was 74.5%, significantly higher than that of the chemosensitive patients (19.4%, P = 0.000). The patients with high PCDGF expression intensity were all chemoresistant. PCDGF expression was significantly associated with response of chemotherapy (P = 0.000). The overall positive BCRP expression rate was 67.82% (59/87). Of the 51 chemoresistant patients 46 were BCRP positive (90.2%), a rate significantly higher than that of the chemosensitive patients (36.1%, P = 0.000). The intensity of BCRP expression was significantly associated with response to chemotherapy (P = 0.000).
Conclusion: PCDGF and BCRP may be used as biomarkers to predict the first-line response to chemotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC.