Abstract
Purpose: The comprehensive analysis of gene expressions using microarray is useful for clarifying the signal transduction of response to radiation in tumors and predicting the prognosis after radiotherapy. In this study, gene expression profiles of cervical cancers treated by either radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy were compared to identify genes induced by each type of treatment. Materials and Methods: The subjects were 24 patients with cervical cancer, who had received definitive radiation therapy (X-ray alone (XR); 11 cases and chemoradiotherapy (CRT); 13 cases). All samples were obtained before radiotherapy and 1 week after the start of the treatment. mRNA was extracted from the tissues and oligonucletide microarray (CodeLink Bioarray Perfect System) was used for assessment of gene expressions. Results: By unsupervised analysis, outlier arrays were detected and these arrays were excluded from further analysis. Statistical analysis with ANOVA found approximately 400 genes, in which their expression values were significantly different between XR and CRT. Genes related with immunological response, such as interleukin and chemokine, or genes related with apoptosis were included. The 91 genes could divide the patients into each treatment group, individually. Conclusion: To investigate gene expressions by the microarray is useful to explore peculiar signal transduction pathway for each radiotherapy modality. These results have possibility of producing a new approach by radiation therapy combined with molecular target therapy for cervical cancer.
