title: Prognostic and clinicopathological significance of MACC1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma patients: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Metastasis-associated in colon cancer-1 (MACC1) has been reported to be overexpressed in diverse human malignancies. However, the prognostic and clinicopathological value of MACC1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains inconclusive. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis to investigate the association between MACC1 expression and the outcomes of HCC.
  
  
  METHODS
  Relevant articles were searched in PubMed, Embase, Sciencedirect, CNKI, and Wanfang databases updated to October 2014. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were assessed using STATA 10.0, and then the correlations of MACC1 expression with overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and clinicopathological features were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  9 studies with a total of 1293 HCC patients were included in this meta-analysis. Our results showed that MACC1 over-expression was significantly associated with poor OS (HR = 2.30, 95% CI 1.47-3.59, univariate analysis; HR = 2.39, 95% CI 1.49-3.82, multivariate analysis), poor DFS (HR = 1.73, 95% CI 1.40-2.13, univariate analysis). Moreover, MACC1 over-expression was significantly associated with AFP level (OR = 1.31, 95% CI 1.03-1.68), tumor number (OR = 1.37, 95% CI 1.07-1.75), differentiation (OR = 2.37, 95% CI 1.46-3.83), TNM stage (OR = 2.89, 95% CI 2.18-3.82), vascular invasion (OR = 1.89, 95% CI 1.43-2.50), capsule invasion (OR = 2.89, 95% CI 1.40-5.94), and metastasis (OR = 2.66, 95% CI 1.16-6.10).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MACC1 over-expression indicated poor survival rate, high recurrence rate, and aggressive biological behaviors. MACC1 can serve as an indicator of prognosis and a potential novel target for treatment in HCC patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Bethune Hospital, Jilin University Changchun 130021, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Da-Wei
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College Beijing 100730, China.
authors.forename: Ying-Yi
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Medicine, The First Bethune Hospital, Jilin University Changchun 130021, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Bethune Hospital, Jilin University Changchun 130021, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Gui-Qi
authors.initials: GQ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Bethune Hospital, Jilin University Changchun 130021, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Guo
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Bethune Hospital, Jilin University Changchun 130021, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Bethune Hospital, Jilin University Changchun 130021, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Yue
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Lv
keywords: HCC; MACC1; meta-analysis; prognosis