Prognostic and predictive value of human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1) in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a translational study

Introduction: Effective (neo) adjuvant chemotherapy for cholangiocarcinoma is lacking due to chemoresistance and the absence of predictive biomarkers. Human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1) has been described as a potential prognostic and predictive biomarker. In this study, the potential of rabbit-derived (SP120) and murine-derived (10D7G2) antibodies to detect hENT1 expression was compared in tissue samples of patients with extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ECC), and the predictive value of hENT1 was investigated in three ECC cell lines. Methods: Tissues of 71 chemonaïve patients with histological confirmation of ECC were selected and stained with SP120 or 10D7G2 to assess the inter-observer variability for both antibodies and the correlation with overall survival. Concomitantly, gemcitabine sensitivity after hENT1 knockdown was assessed in the ECC cell lines EGI-1, TFK-1, and SK-ChA-1 using sulforhodamine B assays. Results: Scoring immunohistochemistry for hENT1 expression with the use of SP120 antibody resulted in the highest interobserver agreement but did not show a prognostic role of hENT1. However, 10D7G2 showed a prognostic role for hENT1, and a potential predictive role for gemcitabine sensitivity in hENT1 in SK-ChA-1 and TFK-1 cells was found. Discussion: These findings prompt further studies for both preclinical validation of the role of hENT1 and histochemical standardization in cholangiocarcinoma patients treated with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy.