Thymidylate synthase (TS) gene expression in primary lung cancer patients: a large-scale study in Japanese population

Abstract Background Previous small-sized studies showed lower thymidylate synthase (TS) expression in adenocarcinoma of the lung, which may explain higher antitumor activity of TS-inhibiting agents such as pemetrexed. Patients and methods To quantitatively measure TS gene expression in a large-scale Japanese population (n = 2621) with primary lung cancer, laser-captured microdissected sections were cut from primary tumors, surrounding normal lung tissues and involved nodes. Results TS gene expression level in primary tumor was significantly higher than that in normal lung tissue (mean TS/β-actin, 3.4 and 1.0, respectively; P Conclusion Lower TS expression in adenocarcinoma of the lung was confirmed in a large-scale study.