title: The role of SOX-2 on the survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer as well as the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Observational studies on the prognostic role of SOX-2 in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are controversial.
  
  
  METHODS
  To clarify the impact of SOX-2 in NSCLC survival, we performed this meta-analysis that included eligible studies. The combined hazard ratios and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated in terms of overall survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of seven studies with 1,944 patients were evaluable for this meta-analysis. The studies were categorized by histology, disease stage and patient race. Our results suggested that SOX-2 overexpression had a favorable impact on survival of patients with NSCLC, the HR (95% CI) was 0.57 (0.48 to 0.65). However, highly significant heterogeneity was detected among these studies (I(2)=76.7%, P=0.000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SOX-2 overexpression indicates a favorable prognosis for patients with NSCLC.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, 2 State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510120, China ; 3 Key Cite of National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou 510120, China.
authors.forename: Wenlong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, 2 State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510120, China ; 3 Key Cite of National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou 510120, China.
authors.forename: Hanzhang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, 2 State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510120, China ; 3 Key Cite of National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou 510120, China.
authors.forename: Jianxing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
keywords: SOX-2; lung cancer; meta-analysis; prognosis