Abstract
BackgroundPrevious studies have been inconsistent with respect to the reported associations between human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER-2/neu) overexpression in colorectal cancer. The aims of this meta-analysis are to assess its correlation with clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic significance in colorectal cancer.MethodsEligible studies were searched in Pubmed, Embase and Web of Science databases. The inclusion criteria were studies that assessed the relationship between HER-2 expression detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and the prognosis or clinicopathological features in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Subgroup analysis according to sex, tumor location, TNM stage, grade of differentiation and lymph node metastasis were produced. Odds ratio (OR) or hazard ratio (HR) with 95 % confidence interval (CI) were calculated to examine the risk or hazard association, and heterogeneity and publication bias analyses were also performed.ResultsA total of 18 studies comprising 2867 colorectal cancer patients were included to assess the association between HER-2 immunohistochemical expression and clinicopathological characteristics and survival. The overall analysis showed that there was no detectable relation between HER-2 expression and prognosis in colorectal cancer patients with the pooled HR of 1.08 (95 % CI: 0.96–1.21, P = 0.21). With respect to clinicopathological features, there was also no detectable relation between HER-2 expression and sex (OR = 0.91, 95 % CI: 0.72–1.15, P = 0.42), tumor location (OR = 1.21, 95 % CI = 0.88–1.65, P = 0.24), grade of differentiation (OR = 1.03, 95 % CI = 0.72–1.47, P = 0.86), TNM stages (OR = 0.72, 95 % CI = 0.31–1.66, P = 0.44), or lymph node metastasis (OR = 1.90, 95 % CI = 0.90–4.02, P = 0.09) in CRC.ConclusionsThe finding from this present meta-analysis suggested that HER-2 overexpression was not related to clinicopathological characteristics and poor prognostic of colorectal cancer patients.
Highlights
Previous studies have been inconsistent with respect to the reported associations between human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER-2/neu) overexpression in colorectal cancer
After exclusion of the trials that were out of the scope of our meta-analysis, 32 studies assessing prognostic value for survival of HER-2 status in patients with colorectal cancer were considered eligible for inclusion in the evaluation
9 were excluded because it was not possible to allow for the calculation of hazard ratio (HR) estimate because of insufficient reported data, 5 were excluded because they have overlapped data with other studies
Summary
Previous studies have been inconsistent with respect to the reported associations between human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER-2/neu) overexpression in colorectal cancer. The aims of this meta-analysis are to assess its correlation with clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic significance in colorectal cancer. Human epidermal growth factor (HER-2/neu), which encodes a 185-kDa transmembrane tyrosine kinase [2] and overexpression of HER-2 gene has been found to correlate with poor prognosis in a variety of human cancers, such as breast, ovarian, and lung cancers [3]. Overexpression of the HER-2/neu is detectable in 25–35 % of breast cancers [4] There is still a lack of general consensus regarding the possible prognostic impact of HER-2 in colorectal cancer
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
