title: Prognostic Value of SPARC in Patients with Pancreatic Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is a heated debate on whether the prognostic value of SPARC is favorable or unfavorable. Thus, we carried out a meta-analysis evaluating the relationship between SPARC expression and the prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science for relevant articles. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and corresponding 95%CI of overall survival (OS) were calculated to evaluate the prognostic value of SPARC expression in patients with pancreatic cancer. We also performed subgroup analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  With 1623 patients pooled from 10 available studies, the incorporative HR showed an unfavorable prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer in the multivariate analysis (HR = 1.55, 95%CI: 1.11-2.17, P = 0.01), but not in univariate analysis (HR = 1.41, 95%CI: 0.47-4.21, P = 0.54) and estimate (HR = 1.24, 95%CI: 0.72-2.13, P = 0.44). And this adverse impact could also be found in the subgroup analyses in multivariate analysis, especially in the stroma (HR = 1.53, 95%CI: 1.05-2.24, P = 0.03). However, the combined HR had the highly significant heterogeneity. No obvious publication bias was found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SPARC might be an unfavorable indicator in patients with pancreatic cancer, especially in the stroma. More and further researches should be conducted to reveal the prognostic value of SPARC.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Kunshan First People's Hospital Affiliated to Jiangsu University, Kunshan Jiangsu, 215300, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Kunshan First People's Hospital Affiliated to Jiangsu University, Kunshan Jiangsu, 215300, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Kunshan First People's Hospital Affiliated to Jiangsu University, Kunshan Jiangsu, 215300, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Min-bin
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang Jiangsu, 212001, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Rong-zhu
authors.initials: RZ
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Kunshan First People's Hospital Affiliated to Jiangsu University, Kunshan Jiangsu, 215300, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hua-bing
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Kunshan First People's Hospital Affiliated to Jiangsu University, Kunshan Jiangsu, 215300, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Kunshan First People's Hospital Affiliated to Jiangsu University, Kunshan Jiangsu, 215300, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Chun-tao
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Kunshan First People's Hospital Affiliated to Jiangsu University, Kunshan Jiangsu, 215300, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hou-zhong
authors.initials: HZ
authors.lastname: Ding
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D015676:Osteonectin / Q000032:analysis*; D010179:Pancreas / Q000473:pathology*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015676:Osteonectin; C577241:SPARC protein, human