Open Access

Impact of EMT in stage IIIB/IV NSCLC treated with erlotinib and bevacizumab when compared with cisplatin, gemcitabine and bevacizumab

  • Authors:
    • Matthias Villalobos
    • Piotr Czapiewski
    • Niels Reinmuth
    • Jürgen R. Fischer
    • Stefan Andreas
    • Cornelius Kortsik
    • Monika Serke
    • Martin Wolf
    • Petra Neuser
    • Alexander Reuss
    • Philipp A. Schnabel
    • Michael Thomas
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: March 15, 2019     https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2019.10153
  • Pages: 4891-4900
  • Copyright: © Villalobos et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

The aim of the present study was to assess the expression of epithelial‑mesenchymal transition biomarkers (E‑cadherin and vimentin) and their potential significance as prognostic markers in patients with stage IIIB/IV non‑squamous non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) enrolled in the INNOVATIONS trial, receiving treatment with either erlotinib/bevacizumab (EB) or cisplatin/gemcitabine/bevacizumab (PGB). The tumor tissues of 104 patients were retrospectively analyzed using immunohistochemistry to assess the expression of E‑cadherin and vimentin. The distribution between the treatment arms was 46 patients in the EB‑arm and 58 in the PGB‑arm. Comparing the treatment arms according to E‑cadherin and vimentin expression, the analysis revealed that progression‑free survival (PFS) was increased in the PGB treatment group when compared with EB treatment in patients with low expression of E‑cadherin [hazard ratio (HR)=0.353; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.189‑ 0.658; log‑rank P=0.0007] and in those with high expression of vimentin [HR=0.276 (95% CI, 0.115‑ 0.659), log‑rank P=0.0021]. In patients that exhibited high E‑cadherin and were negative for vimentin, there was no difference in the PFS between the PGB and EB treatment groups. In conclusion, in non‑squamous NSCLC with downregulated E‑cadherin and upregulated vimentin, the efficacy of chemotherapy with PGB was superior compared with EB; but the same effect was not observed in patients with high E‑cadherin and low vimentin. Although increased PFS was observed in patients with PGB treatment compared with EB treatment in the whole analysis populations, in the subgroup of patients with the mesenchymal phenotype, no prognostic or predictive value of either biomarker could be identified. The potential role of bevacizumab in overcoming chemotherapy resistance in the population with the mesenchymal phenotype has to be further explored.
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June-2019
Volume 17 Issue 6

Print ISSN: 1792-1074
Online ISSN:1792-1082

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Spandidos Publications style
Villalobos M, Czapiewski P, Reinmuth N, Fischer JR, Andreas S, Kortsik C, Serke M, Wolf M, Neuser P, Reuss A, Reuss A, et al: Impact of EMT in stage IIIB/IV NSCLC treated with erlotinib and bevacizumab when compared with cisplatin, gemcitabine and bevacizumab. Oncol Lett 17: 4891-4900, 2019
APA
Villalobos, M., Czapiewski, P., Reinmuth, N., Fischer, J.R., Andreas, S., Kortsik, C. ... Thomas, M. (2019). Impact of EMT in stage IIIB/IV NSCLC treated with erlotinib and bevacizumab when compared with cisplatin, gemcitabine and bevacizumab. Oncology Letters, 17, 4891-4900. https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2019.10153
MLA
Villalobos, M., Czapiewski, P., Reinmuth, N., Fischer, J. R., Andreas, S., Kortsik, C., Serke, M., Wolf, M., Neuser, P., Reuss, A., Schnabel, P. A., Thomas, M."Impact of EMT in stage IIIB/IV NSCLC treated with erlotinib and bevacizumab when compared with cisplatin, gemcitabine and bevacizumab". Oncology Letters 17.6 (2019): 4891-4900.
Chicago
Villalobos, M., Czapiewski, P., Reinmuth, N., Fischer, J. R., Andreas, S., Kortsik, C., Serke, M., Wolf, M., Neuser, P., Reuss, A., Schnabel, P. A., Thomas, M."Impact of EMT in stage IIIB/IV NSCLC treated with erlotinib and bevacizumab when compared with cisplatin, gemcitabine and bevacizumab". Oncology Letters 17, no. 6 (2019): 4891-4900. https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2019.10153