title: CD34 Over-Expression is Associated With Gliomas' Higher WHO Grade.
abstract: CD34 is a transmembrane phosphoglycoprotein that was first identified on hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. CD34 is known as an optimum marker for microvascular density studies and it is positively stained in pathological and physiologic vessels. The use of CD34 for the prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment of neoplasms has been increasingly discussed. The implications and utilities of CD34 in WHO grades of gliomas and its prognosis have been reported rarely. Also, the WHO grades and prognosis researches remains unclear and controversial. A meta-analysis is the best choice for drawing a convincing conclusion. Several databases were searched. We carefully assess the relevant articles and standard mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were estimated in terms of the relationship between CD34 expression levels with gliomas' WHO grades, patients' ages and gender. We used the Galbraith figure, the I test, and Cochran Q test to evaluate the heterogeneity of the included studies. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the pooled results' stability. A Contour-enhanced funnel plot evaluation was made to assess potential publication bias. Ethics review and approval was not necessary because the meta-analysis did not involve any direct human trials or animal experiments. There were 12 eligible studies, including 684 patients who were considered in the present meta-analysis. All of them were conducted in China. CD34 overexpression in glioma tissues was associated closely, according to the pooled SMD, with higher WHO grade (III + IV) (SMD -1.503, 95% CI -1.685 to -1.321; P = 0.000). There were no significant associations between CD34 and age (SMD -0.223, 95% CI -0.602 to 0.156; P = 0.248) and CD34 and gender (SMD -0.059, 95% CI -0.439, 0.321; P = 0.761). No publication bias was detected according to Contour-enhanced funnel plot. Our results suggested that CD34 overexpression is associated with higher WHO grades of gliomas. CD34 may serve as a potential diagnostic and prognostic marker, or it could be a useful therapy target.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Neurosurgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiangyi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Wenbin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Yongning
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Junji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Zhiqin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Wanchen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dou
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lian
authors.forename: Changbao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Zuyuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Renzhi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D018952:Antigens, CD34 / Q000378:metabolism*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D016543:Central Nervous System Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005910:Glioma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D018952:Antigens, CD34; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor