ERCC1 262G>T Variant Is Associated With Head And Neck Squamous Cell Cancer Radiotherapy Efficacy

Background & Aims The excision repair cross-complementation group 1 (ERCC1), plays a pivotal role in nucleotide-excision repair (NER). We analyzed whether functional genetic variants in the ERCC1 are associated with response to head and neck squamous cancer (HNSCC) radiotherapy.Methods Genotyping of ERCC1 262G>T was performed using PCR-RFLP in 124 cases HNSCC. The data of 124 cases underwent radiotherapy was reviewed. According to the clinical parameter, two comparisons of genotypes and short term effect of were executed by Chi-square test. The difference of response to radiotherapy was evaluated by Chi-square test in primary foci, metastatic lymph nodes, skin, mucosa and salivary gland among different genotypes, and odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated by multivariate logistic regression.Results Patients with squamous cancer were 93 men (75%) and 31 (25%) women, with a median age of 50 years (ranging from 22 to 80 years). Of the patients, 17 (13.7%) cases were Stage II, 53 (42.7%) were Stage III and 54 (43.6%) were Stage IV. The cases with the pathological types of WHO I, II and III were 29 (23.4%), 81(65.3%) and 14 (11.3%), respectively. The radiation dose of 92 (74.2%) cases was 70Gy, and the radiation dose of the other 32 (25.8%) cases was 50Gy in primary foci. In short term effect of primary foci, 70 (56.5%) cases gained complete response, while 54 (43.5%) cases gained partial response or stable disease. The ERCC1 262GG genotype is associated with the complete response of HNSCC underwent radiotherapy (P = 0.027).Conclusions ERCC1 262G>T may significantly influence the response to radiotherapy and be the biomarker of radiotherapy sensitivity. Large studies are warranted to confirm its role in HNSCC.