title: Role of epidermal growth factor receptor expression on patient survival in pancreatic cancer: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been considered as an attractive and potential therapeutic target of pancreatic cancer. However, the clinical importance of EGFR expression remains controversial.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a meta-analysis of previous studies to quantitatively review the effects of EGFR expression on survival in patients with pancreatic cancer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eight studies (570 patients) were included to perform a meta-analysis of the survival results. Overall, positivity for EGFR expression was 45.1% in pancreatic carcinoma. The combined hazard ratio was 1.225 (95% CI 1.014-1.481; p = 0.035), indicating that EGFR expression has a significant impact on survival. Heterogeneity was absent between studies and publication bias, which suggests that the summary statistics obtained may approximate the actual average. Three trials reported a survival disadvantage for patients with EGFR expression while five trials reported no statistically significant difference.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EGFR expression is a poor prognostic factor for survival in patients with pancreatic cancer. and IAP.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pancreas and Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Guopei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Lixin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xianjun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D018450:Disease Progression; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D066246:ErbB Receptors