Association between single nucleotide polymorphisms of drug resistance-associated genes and response to chemotherapy in advanced ovarian cancer.
BACKGROUND: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may show clinicopathological importance as prognostic markers. This study examined the association of SNPs and the expression of drug resistance-associated markers with response to chemotherapy in advanced ovarian cancer (stages III and IV) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: SNPs were analyzed for MDR1, MRP1, MRP2 and LRP in 60 advanced ovarian cancer patients. The protein expression of each factor was analyzed by immunohistochemistry in all patients. RESULTS: As a result of examining the relevance of SNP genotypes to the response to chemotherapy, a significant relevance (p=0.01) was observed regarding MRP1 exon-17 SNP (G2168A) involving amino acid substitution. No significant relationship was observed between protein expression and the response to chemotherapy or disease-free survival time. CONCLUSION: Analysis of drug resistance gene polymorphism appears to be an indicator of the response to chemotherapy in advanced ovarian cancer.