Abstract:Objective:To investigate the association of ERCC1 mRNA levels and ERCC1 118 C/T polymorphism with the clinical outcome of gastric cancer patients treated with oxalipatinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy. Methods:Sixty-two gastric cancer patients received oxalipatinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy. The intratumoral ERCC1 mRNA expression was tested by semi-quantitative RT-PCR, and ERCC1 118 C/T polymorphism was tested by PCR-LDR(ligation detection reaction) method. Results:The median ERCC1 RNA level in 62 gastric cancer tissues was 0.672. The frequencies of ERCC1 118 C/C,C/T and T/T genotype were 51.6%(32/66),43.5%(27/62) and 4.8%(3/62),respectively. The recurrence-free and overall survival rate in patients with low level of ERCC1 mRNA(>0.672)were significantly higher than those in patients with high level(P < 0.05),while there was no significant difference found between patients with ERCC1 118 C/C and variant genotypes(T/T or C/T). Multivariate analysis showed that ERCC1 mRNA level was a potential predictor for relapse and survival in gastric cancer patients treated with platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy(P < 0.05). ERCC1 118 C/T polymorphism was not associated with the disease prognosis. Conclusion:The ERCC1 mRNA level might be a useful predictive parameter for the relapse and survival of gastric cancer patients received with oxalipatinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy.