Abstract
We conducted a meta-analysis to comprehensively evaluate the correlations of ezrin expression with pathological characteristics and the prognosis of osteosarcoma. The MEDLINE (1966–2013), the Cochrane Library Database, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science (1945–2013), and the Chinese Biomedical Database were searched without language restrictions. Meta-analyses conducted using STATA software were calculated. Ten studies met the inclusion criteria, including 459 patients with osteosarcoma. Meta-analysis results illustrated that ezrin expression may be closely associated with the recurrence of osteosarcoma or metastasis in osteosarcoma. Our findings also demonstrated that patients with grade III-IV osteosarcoma showed a higher frequency of ezrin expression than those with histological grade I-II osteosarcoma. Furthermore, we found that patients with positive expression of ezrin exhibited a shorter overall survival than those with negative ezrin expression. The results also indicated that positive ezrin expression was strongly correlated with poorer metastasis-free survival. Nevertheless, no significant relationships were observed between ezrin expression and clinical variables (age and gender). In the current meta-analysis, our results illustrated significant relationships of ezrin expression with pathological characteristics and prognosis of osteosarcoma. Thus, ezrin expression could be a promising marker in predicting the clinical outcome of patients with osteosarcoma.
Highlights
Osteosarcoma, a type of malignant tumor originating from primitive bone-forming mesenchymal cells, is the most prominent primary bone tumor that mainly develops in children and adolescents [1, 2]
The following criteria were for the eligibility of included studies: (1) the study design must be a clinical cohort study that focused on the relationships of ezrin expression with pathological characteristics and prognosis of osteosarcoma; (2) all patients met the diagnostic criteria for osteosarcoma; (3) the study must provide sufficient information about expression levels of ezrin
In the current meta-analysis, we aimed to investigate whether ezrin expression may affect the pathological characteristics and prognosis in patients with osteosarcoma
Summary
Osteosarcoma, a type of malignant tumor originating from primitive bone-forming mesenchymal cells, is the most prominent primary bone tumor that mainly develops in children and adolescents [1, 2]. A number of epidemiological studies have demonstrated that a variety of environmental factors may contribute to the development of osteosarcoma, including age, gender, ethnicity, growth and height, and physical, chemical, and biological agents [4, 5]. In addition to those environmental factors, some studies showed that genetic factors may play a more important role in the pathogenesis of osteosarcoma in recent years [6, 7]. Many studies have suggested that ezrin may be implicated in the development and prognosis of osteosarcoma [8, 9]
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