ISSN:
1569-8041
Keywords:
breast cancer
;
chemotherapy
;
platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor
;
prediction
;
thymidine phosphorylase
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract Background: Thymidine phosphorylase (TP) catalyses the reversiblephosphorylation of thymidine to thymine and 2-deoxyribose-1-phosphate. Highexpression of TP in cell lines potentiates the effects of the cytotoxic drugs5-fluorouracil and methotrexate, both of which are used in thecyclophosphamide, 5-fluorouracil and methotrexate (CMF) treatment regimen ofbreast cancer. Patients and methods: We therefore examined the expression of thisenzyme in 328 invasive breast carcinomas using immunohistochemistry andassessed whether the expression of this enzyme by the tumour predicts patientresponse to CMF in node-positive patients. Results: Whereas no significant difference in either relapse-freesurvival (RFS) (P = 0.2) or overall survival (OS) (P = 0.07) wasobserved between TP-negative and -positive tumours in non-treated patients,there was a significant increase in both RFS (P = 0.02) and OS (P = 0.02) inpatients treated with CMF in TP-positive compared with TP-negativetumours. A multivariate analysis of the 134 node-positive patientsdemonstrated that in ductal carcinomas, TP was an independent variable for OS. Conclusions: This pilot study suggests that patients with TP-positivetumours have a significant survival benefit when treated with CMF and supportsthe hypothesis that TP enhances tumour sensitivity to the anti-metabolites5-fluorouracil and methotrexate.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1008280110558
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