Prognostic significance of β-catenin expression in patients with non-small cell lung cancer: a meta-analysis.
BACKGROUND
β-catenin is a key component of the canonical Wnt pathway, which plays pivotal roles in malignant transformation and cancer progression. Several studies have reported the clinical significance of the expression level of β-catenin in different subcellular locations. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the prognostic value of β-catenin expression patterns in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).


METHODS
PubMed and Embase databases were searched to identify all articles referring to the association between β-catenin expression level and outcomes of patients of NSCLC up to November 2016. We included eligible studies to summarize the extracted data in terms of pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).


RESULTS
A total of 24 studies published between 2000 and 2016 were eligible for this meta-analysis. The total number of patients with NSCLC included was 2,807. Pooled HRs and 95% CIs suggested that positive β-catenin expression in membrane was associated with higher survival rates (HR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.32-0.87), whereas β-catenin expression in cytoplasm and nucleus had unfavorable impacts on survival rates with HR of 1.63 (95% CI: 1.34-1.99) and HR of 3.15 (95% CI: 1.97-5.05), respectively. But, there was no significant association between β-catenin expression in abnormal pattern with prognosis (HR: 1.38; 95% CI: 0.61-3.15). Publication bias was absent in all of the four outcomes. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the results of this meta-analysis were robust.


CONCLUSIONS
Reduced membranous β-catenin, positive expression of cytoplasmic or nuclear β-catenin is all correlated with poor prognosis, although we did not identify a significant association between abnormal β-catenin expression and clinical outcome of NSCLC patients. The meta-analysis suggested that membranous, cytoplasmic and nuclear β-catenin all could serve as an important prognosticator for patients with NSCLC.
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Command, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China.
Jiajia
J
Jin
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing 210002, China.
Ping
P
Zhan
Department of Omics Network, National Cancer Center, Tokyo 1040045, Japan.
Masaru
M
Katoh
Lung Cancer Research Program, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02215, USA.
Susumu S
SS
Kobayashi
The Collaborative Research (CORE) Group, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
Kevin
K
Phan
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Command, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China.
Hong
H
Qian
Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210009, China.
Huijuan
H
Li
Intensive Care Unit, Inner Mongolia People's Hospital, Hohhot 010017, China.
Xiaoxia
X
Wang
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Zhongda Hospital, Medical School of Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China.
Xihua
X
Wang
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing 210002, China.
Yong
Y
Song
Meta-analysis; genome medicine; non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); precision medicine; prognostic significance; β-catenin