ERCC1 as a prognostic factor for survival in patients with advanced urothelial cancer treated with platinium-based chemotherapy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

351 Background: Platinium based chemotherapy (CT) is an essential part in the treatment of advanced urothelial cancer (AUC). However, not all patients derive benefit. A body of evidence suggests that excision repair cross-complementation group 1 (ERCC1) expression level may correlate with outcome in platinum treated patients. We thought to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to better elucidate its role in AUC. Methods: A comprehensive literature review was performed to identify all studies comparing platinum-based regimens according to expression levels of ERCC1 for patients with AUC. The search included the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases, and abstracts from the American Society of Clinical Oncology meetings up to June 2014. Pooled analyses were conducted using fixed and random effects models. Results: A total of 554 patients included in eight studies were evaluated. ERCC1 expression was positive in 270 (49%) patients and negative in 284 (51%) patients. The median age of patients was 63 years. The overall survival (OS) was significantly better in patients with negative ERCC1 expression (pooled hazard ratio (HR) 1.90 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.98–3.67; p=0.006). There was moderate amount of between-study heterogeneity present (I-square 70%). Conclusions: This study's findings support the hypothesis that low ERCC1 expression is associated with benefit from cisplatin-based treatment. The substantial amount of between-study heterogeneity may indicate the need for standardized methods to classify ERCC1 expression level. Prospective studies are necessary to determine the role of ERCC1 levels for treatment selection in patients with AUC.