Prognostic value of osteopontin expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: To explore the prognostic role of osteopontin (OPN) overexpression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Methods: The PubMed, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, Chinese Biomedical Data (CBM) and VIP databases were searched from the establishment dates of the databases to March 31, 2019, for potentially related studies. Stata 12.0 software was used for statistical analyses, and the hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were combined to assess the correlation of OPN overexpression with the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of ESCC patients.

Results: A total of 8 studies involving 811 patients from China or Japan were included. OPN overexpression was demonstrated to be significantly associated with poor OS (HR = 1.86, 95% CI: 1.22-2.83, P = 0.004), with high heterogeneity (I² = 61.2%, P = 0.012), and poor PFS (HR=1.63, 95% CI: 1.08-2.47, P = 0.020), without heterogeneity (I² = 0.0%, P = 0.839). Subgroup analysis results were similar to the pooled results.

Conclusion: OPN overexpression might serve as a promising independent prognostic risk factor in Chinese and Japanese ESCC patients. However, more well-designed studies enrolling more patients are still needed to verify our findings.

Keywords: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; Meta-Analysis; Osteopontin; Prognosis.