Remarkably, the analysis of the prognostic role of ERCC1 expression in subgroups of prostate cancer that were narrowly defined by identical quantitative Gleason grades suggested a limitation of the prognostic value of ERCC1 measurement to the earliest lesions, i.e. Gleason 3 + 3 or 3 + 4 with only minimal (≤5%) Gleason 4 fraction. This evidence concerns the gene ERCC1 and prostate cancer.