title: Prognostic role of B7-H4 in patients with non-small cell lung cancer: A meta-analysis.
abstract: B7 homolog 4 (B7-H4) has been recently reported to be a prognostic marker in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in some studies. However, the results remained conflicting. Thus, we aimed to comprehensively assess the association between B7-H4 expression and prognosis of NSCLC patients by performing a meta-analysis. Relevant publications were thoroughly searched of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). The pooled odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were applied to evaluate the effects. A total of 9 studies comprising 1444 patients were included in this meta-analysis. B7-H4 overexpression was associated with presence of lymph node metastasis (OR=3.59, 95%CI=2.39-5.38, p<0.001; fixed effect), advanced TNM stage (OR=2.36, 95%CI=1.2-4.67, p=0.013; random effect), and poor differentiation (OR=2.11, 95%CI=1.12-3.99, p=0.021; fixed effect). However, B7-H4 had no significant correlation with gender, age or histology in NSCLC. Furthermore, in a fixed effects model, the results indicated that B7-H4 overexpression was significantly associated with poor OS (HR=2.03, 95%CI=1.41-2.92, p<0.001). This meta-analysis demonstrated that high B7-H4 expression is an unfavorable prognostic factor in NSCLC. Because few studies were included for meta-analysis and almost all included studies were performed on Chinese patients, therefore; large scale prospective studies are needed to verify our results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Shenzhen Hospital of Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhibo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Shenzhen Hospital of Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Weixi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011379:Prognosis; D017594:Publication Bias; D016019:Survival Analysis; D060907:V-Set Domain-Containing T-Cell Activation Inhibitor 1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D060907:V-Set Domain-Containing T-Cell Activation Inhibitor 1; C475826:VTCN1 protein, human
keywords: B7-H4; evidence-based medicine; lung cancer; meta-analysis