The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic value of expression of Excision Repair
Cross-complementation Group 1 (ERCC1), B cell lymphoma/lewkmia-2 (Bcl-2) and metallothionein (MT)
by immunohistochemically staining tumor specimens from 78 patients with advanced non-small-cell lung
cancer (NSCLC) treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy. The result showed that positive expression of
ERCC1 was associated both with short survival (10.45 months vs. 14.38 months, log-rank p = 0.003) and
poor response to cisplatin-based chemotherapy (p = 0.003) when compared with negative group. But expression
of Bcl-2 and MT was not associated with response to chemotherapy and survival. Multivariate
analysis confirmed that expression of ERCC1 was an independent variable related to overall survival (p =
0.013). These data support the role of RECC1 expression as a candidate predictor for the survival of patients
with advanced NSCLC treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy.