title: Survivin over-expression is correlated with a poor prognosis in esophageal cancer patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prognostic role of survivin in esophageal cancer (EC) remains controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to clarify the association of survivin with survival in EC patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Relevant studies published up to November 2014 were identified using PubMed and Embase. Only studies in which survivin was detected through immunohistochemical staining were included. STATA 12.0 was used in this meta-analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 9 studies, which comprised 610 patients, were included in the meta-analysis. The combined hazard ratio (HR) of 1.76 (95% CI, 1.40-2.21; P<0.001) suggests that survivin overexpression in EC patients was significantly associated with poor overall survival. Moreover, the results showed a significant relationship between overall survival and survivin expression was also displayed in studies with a non-Asian country (HR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.30-2.35), patient number ≥ 50 (HR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.57-2.20), the cut-off level ≥ 5% (HR, 1.43; 95% CI, 0.94-2.17) and the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (HR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.43-2.30). However, combined odds ratio of survivin indicated that survivin overexpression has no correlation with stage, grade of differentiation, lymph node status, depth of invasion and distant metastasis of EC (P>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Survivin overexpression is associated with poor prognosis in EC patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Haifeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shaomu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Haitao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: haitaomasoochow@163.com.
authors.forename: Haitao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality; D000077277:Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D000077022:Survivin
chemical_list: C107489:BIRC5 protein, human; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D000077022:Survivin
keywords: Esophageal cancer; Meta-analysis; Prognosis; Survivin