Prognostic value of vascular endothelial growth factor A  expression in gastric cancer: a meta-analysis.
Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) is considered as a prime mediator of angiogenesis and has been implicated in carcinogenesis and metastasis. Various studies examined the relationship between VEGF-A overexpression with the clinical outcome in patients with gastric cancer, but yielded conflicting results. Electronic databases updated to September 2013 were searched to find relevant studies. A meta-analysis was conducted with eligible studies which quantitatively evaluated the relationship between VEGF-A overexpression and survival of patients with gastric cancer. Survival data were aggregated and quantitatively analyzed. We performed a meta-analysis of 20 studies that evaluated the correlation between VEGF-A overexpression and survival in patients with gastric cancer. Combined hazard ratios suggested that VEGF-A overexpression had an unfavorable impact on overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.57; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.30–1.84) and disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 1.85; 95% CI, 1.39–2.32) in patients with gastric cancer. No significant heterogeneity (P = 0.487) was observed among 16 studies for OS and among 7 studies for DFS (P = 0.435). VEGF-A overexpression indicates a poor prognosis for overall survival and disease-free survival in patients with gastric cancer.
Ya-nan
YN
Ji
Qin
Q
Wang
Yang
Y
Li
Zhi
Z
Wang
D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality*; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000096:biosynthesis*
C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A