title: [Prognostic role of vascular endothelial growth factor in oral carcinoma: a meta analysis].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To perform a Meta analysis of prognostic cohort studies for evaluating the use of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) as a predictor of survival in patients with oral carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  A search of OVIDMEDLINE, EMBASE database and two Chinese database (CNKI and VIP) was conducted using common text words combined with medical subject headings to capture the related cohort studies. Data were collected comparing disease-free and overall survival in patients with high VEGF levels as compared to those with low levels. Studies were pooled and summary hazard ratios (HR) were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  14 texts were included in this study. High tissue VEGF levels predicted poor overall survival (HR: 2.95, 95% CI: 2.14-4.08) and disease-free survival (HR: 2.28, 95%CI: 1.61-3.21). Similarly, high VEGF levels predicted poor overall survival (HR: 2.60, 95% CI: 1.82-3.73) and disease-free survival (HR: 2.58, 95% CI: 1.73-3.84) in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VEGF may be useful for defining prognosis in oral carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Health Statistics, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zang
authors.forename: Xiao-song
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D006801:Humans; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms; D011379:Prognosis; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
chemical_list: D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A