Abstract
Methods PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CNKI, and Wanfang databases were thoroughly searched for eligible studies, in which the relationship between SPHK1 expression and cancer prognosis was evaluated. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled to estimate the impact of SPHK1 expression on cancer patients' survival. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs were combined to assess the association between SPHK1 expression and clinicopathological characteristics of cancer patients. The certainty of evidence was evaluated by Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria. Results Thirty studies comprising 32 cohorts with 5965 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The outcomes indicated that elevated SPHK1 expression was associated with worse overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.45-2.01, P < 0.001) and disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.13-1.59, P = 0.001). What is more, SPHK1 overexpression was significantly correlated with certain phenotypes of tumor aggressiveness, such as clinical stage (OR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.39-3.09, P < 0.001), tumor invasion (OR = 2.16, 95% CI: 1.47-3.18, P < 0.001), lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.71-2.44, P < 0.001), and distant metastasis (OR = 3.16, 95% CI: 2.44-4.09, P < 0.001). The quality of the evidence for both OS and DFS was low. Conclusions Increased SPHK1 expression is related to poor prognosis in human cancers and may serve as a promising prognostic marker and therapeutic target for malignant patients. However, conclusions need to be treated with caution because of lack of high quality of evidence.
Highlights
Cancer is a serious public health problem, leading to a severe burden of disease in the world
According to a report released by GLOBOCAN in 2018, approximately 18.1 million people were newly diagnosed with cancer and 9.6 million people died of cancer, which was based on researches performed in 185 countries [1]
The following terms and their combinations are used as search keywords: (“sphingosine kinase 1” or “Sphingosine kinase 1 (SPHK1)”) AND (“immunohistochemistry” or “IHC”) AND (“cancer” or “tumor” or “neoplasms” or “carcinoma” or “malignancy”) AND (“prognosis” or “survival” or “outcome”), covering all articles published in English and Chinese as of July 2021
Summary
Cancer is a serious public health problem, leading to a severe burden of disease in the world. The 5-year overall survival rate is still low in the majority of cancer patients [3, 4]. Sphingosine kinase 1 (SPHK1) is a key enzyme of sphingolipid metabolism which is involved in the pathogenesis and progression of human cancer. The prognostic value of SPHK1 remains unclear We performed this meta-analysis to assess its predictive value in the prognosis of cancer patients. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled to estimate the impact of SPHK1 expression on cancer patients’ survival. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs were combined to assess the association between SPHK1 expression and clinicopathological characteristics of cancer patients. Increased SPHK1 expression is related to poor prognosis in human cancers and may serve as a promising prognostic marker and therapeutic target for malignant patients. Conclusions need to be treated with caution because of lack of high quality of evidence
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