Reduced cullin 1 expression enhances the effects of fluorouracil-leucovorin-oxaliplatin in resectable gastric cancer

To investigate the significance of Cullin1 as a biomarker in adjuvant chemotherapy of gastric cancer. A total of 618 gastric cancer cases in tissue microarray were enrolled for analyzing the relationship of overall survival and Cul1 expression; the in vitro SGC7901 and BGC823 gastric cancer cell culture models were used for identifying the synergistic role and potential mechanisms of Cul1 expression and chemotherapeutic drugs fluorouracil and oxaliplatin (FO). The gastric cancer patients with low Cul1 expression and treated by FLO regimen after surgery had a significant longer survival time compared with the patients treated by surgery alone. The gastric cancer cells knock down Cul1 increased sensitivity to FO due to enhanced activations of caspase-8 and PARP and therefore induced apoptosis. Data in the present study suggested that the expression of Cul1 protein may be a predictive factor and benefit from FLO adjuvant chemotherapy in resectable human gastric cancer. Detection of Cul1 expression may be a potential biomarker for personalized chemotherapy for gastric cancer.