Expression of Ku70 predicts results of radiotherapy in prostate cancer

Therapeutic strategy for prostate cancer is decided according to T stage, Gleason score, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level. These clinical factors are not accurate enough to predict individual risk of local failure of prostate cancer after radiotherapy. Parameters involved with radiosensitivity are required to improve the predictive capability for local relapse.

We analyzed 58 patients with localized adenocarcinoma of the prostate between August 2007 and October 2010 treated with 76 Gy of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) as a discovery cohort and 42 patients between March 2001 and May 2007 treated with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) as a validation cohort. Immunohistochemical examination for proteins involved in nonhomologous end-joining was performed using biopsy specimens.

Ku70 expression was not correlated with various clinical parameters, such as the Gleason score and D'amico risk classification, indicating that Ku70 expression was an independent prognostic factor. The predictive value for PSA relapse was markedly improved after the combination of Gleason score and Ku70 expression, as compared with Gleason score alone. In patients treated with radiotherapy and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), no relapses were observed in patients with Gleason score ≤7 or low Ku70 expression. In contrast, patients with Gleason score ≥8 and high Ku70 expression had high PSA relapse rates. In the validation cohort, similar results were obtained.

Treatment with 76 Gy and ADT can be effective for patients with Gleason score ≤7 or low Ku70 expression, but is not enough for patients with Gleason score ≥8 and high Ku70 expression and, thus, require other treatment approaches.

Strahlentherapie und Onkologie : Organ der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft ... [et al]. 2016 Jul 27 [Epub ahead of print]

Tomokazu Hasegawa, Masanori Someya, Masakazu Hori, Yoshihisa Matsumoto, Kensei Nakata, Masanori Nojima, Mio Kitagawa, Takaaki Tsuchiya, Naoya Masumori, Tadashi Hasegawa, Koh-Ichi Sakata

Department of Radiology, Sapporo Medical University School of medicine, 060-8543, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan., Department of Radiology, Sapporo Medical University School of medicine, 060-8543, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan., Department of Radiology, Sapporo Medical University School of medicine, 060-8543, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan., Tokyo Institute of Technology, Research Laboratory for Nuclear Reactors, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan., Department of Radiology, Sapporo Medical University School of medicine, 060-8543, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan., The Institute of Medical Science Hospital, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Shirokanedai, 108-8639, Minatoku, Tokyo, Japan., Department of Radiology, Sapporo Medical University School of medicine, 060-8543, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan., Department of Radiology, Sapporo Medical University School of medicine, 060-8543, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan., Department of Urology, Sapporo Medical University School of medicine, 065-8543, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan., Department of Surgical Pathology, Sapporo Medical University School of medicine, 060-8543, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan., Department of Radiology, Sapporo Medical University School of medicine, 060-8543, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. .