title: Prognostic value of HER-2/neu expression in epithelial ovarian cancer: a meta-analysis.
abstract: Various studies examined the relationship between human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2/neu) overexpression and the clinical outcome in patients with ovarian cancer, but yielded conflicting results. Electronic databases updated in May 2013 were searched to find relevant studies. A meta-analysis was conducted with eligible studies which quantitatively evaluated the relationship between HER-2/neu overexpression and survival of patients with ovarian cancer. Survival data were aggregated and quantitatively analyzed. We conducted a final analysis of 3,055 patients from 20 eligible studies and evaluated the correlation between HER-2/neu overexpression and survival in patients with ovarian cancer. Combined hazard ratios suggested that HER-2/neu overexpression was not associated with a significant impact on survival, with the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) being 1.05 and 0.92-1.19, respectively, overall. When grouped according to the study design type, a statistically significant combined HR was found in retrospective studies (HR = 1.44, 95% CI 1.14-1.75) and no statistically significant combined HR was found (HR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.81-1.11) for prospective studies. HER-2/neu overexpression seems to have no significant impact on survival of ovarian cancer patients. However, a statistically significant combined HR was found in retrospective studies, but not in prospective studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Mulan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ren
mesh_terms: D000077216:Carcinoma, Ovarian Epithelial; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality*; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017594:Publication Bias; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases