Molecular analysis of the polymorphisms of thymidylate synthase on cell-free circulating DNA in blood of patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma

Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review

Contributors

  • Heidi Schwarzenbach - , University of Hamburg (Author)
  • Eray Goekkurt - , University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, Institute of Pathology (Author)
  • Klaus Pantel - , University of Hamburg (Author)
  • Daniela E. Aust - , Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden (Author)
  • Jan Stoehlmacher - , University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, Department of internal Medicine I (Author)

Abstract

As a key enzyme in folate metabolism, the thymidylate synthase (TS) is important for the synthesis of nucleotides. Its polymorphisms may affect the TS gene expression and the susceptibility for Fluoropyrimidine (FU)-based chemotherapies. In this study, we assessed the relationship between the TS genotypes and clinical outcome to 5-FU-based chemotherapy, and examined whether cell-free circulating DNA is applicable for these molecular analyses. We combined the variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) and single nucleotide (SNP) polymorphisms of the TS promoter and the deletion variants (1494del6) in the 3′UTR with the occurrence of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the microsatellite markers D18S59, D18S1140, and D18S976 mapped up- and downstream to the TS locus. Cell-free blood DNA, tumor tissues, and leukocytes of 51 patients with advanced colorectal cancer were used. Genotyping revealed linkage disequilibrium between TS promoter and 3′UTR (p = 0.03) in blood and leukocytes. Inverse associations of the response to therapy with the number of polymorphisms (p = 0.05) and the 494del6 polymorphism (p < 0.02) were detected on serum DNA. The quantification of serum DNA showed significant correlations with the 1494del6 variant (p = 0.006) in tumor tissues and the combined polymorphisms in leukocytes (p < 0.04). In contrast to the low LOH frequency in blood, LOH spanned more than one marker in the primary tumor of the majority of the patients suggesting the loss of the entire TS locus. Our data provide insight into the molecular diversity of the regulation of the TS gene expression. This is the first study that compares multi-variant TS genotypes in different clinical specimens.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)881-888
Number of pages8
JournalInternational journal of cancer
Volume127
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - 15 Aug 2010
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 19998340

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • Cell-free circulating DNA, Genotypes, Serum DNA concentrations