Nestin is significantly associated with the overall survival of nonsmall cell lung cancer: A meta-analysis.

Abstract

Some studies investigated the association between nestin and the overall survival (OS) of nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the results were conflicted and inconclusive. Therefore, we performed this meta-analysis to determine the association between nestin and OS of NSCLC. PubMed and EMBASE were searched to find relevant studies. The strength of the association was calculated with the hazard ratios (HRs) and respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs). High expression of nestin was significantly associated with OS of NSCLC (HR = 2.09; 95% CI = 1.59-2.77). In the stratified analysis by race, we found that the expression of nestin was significantly associated with OS of NSCLC in Asians (HR = 3.02; 95% CI = 1.80-5.07) and Caucasians (HR = 1.81; 95% CI = 1.21-2.71). In addition, when we limited the meta-analysis to studies that controlled for clinical parameters, a significant association between nestin and OS of NSCLC remained (HR = 2.19; 95% CI = 1.54-3.11). A sensitivity analysis showed no substantial modification of the estimates after exclusion of individual studies. In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggested that high expression of nestin was significantly associated with OS of NSCLC.