Abstract
Fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) has recently been identified as a promising novel therapeutic target and prognostic marker in different types of cancer. In the present study, a meta-analysis was performed to clarify the correlation between FGFR1 and the survival outcomes of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients. PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were systematically searched for relevant studies in order to explore the prognostic significance of FGFR1 in HNSCC. Hazards ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were collected to estimate the correlation between overexpression and amplification of FGFR1 and survival outcomes of HNSCC patients. Nine studies including 2708 patients with HNSCC were finally selected for the meta-analysis. The results indicated that FGFR1 predicted poor overall survival (OS) (HR, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.49–2.61, P<0.001) in HNSCC patients. Futhermore, FGFR1 was related to poor OS in human papillomavirus (HPV) negative HNSCC not in HPV positive HNSCC patients. Subgroup analysis stratified by molecular abnormalities, such as overexpression or amplification showed the similar results. The present study demonstrated that HNSCC patients with FGFR1 overexpression and amplification were more likely to exhibit poorer survival.
Highlights
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) develop from the mucosal linings of the upper aerodigestive tract, comprising 1) the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses, 2) the nasopharynx, 3) the hypopharynx, larynx, and trachea, and 4) the oral cavity and oropharynx
The characteristics of the included studies were summarized (Table 1), such as author, year, country, cancer type, sample size, age, follow-up, method, human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, cox proportional hazards model, survival analysis, Hazards ratios (HR), Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) score and Recommendations for Tumor Marker Prognostic Studies (REMARK) score. These studies were from France, Netherlands, USA, Australia, Brazil, South Korea and Poland, including three for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), two for oral tongue squamous cell carcinomas (OTSCC), three for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), one for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) and one for oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC), one for hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC)
Goke et al reported that Fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) amplification was a frequent event in primary and metastatic HNSCC and that it could be used as a poor prognostic indicator [30]
Summary
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) develop from the mucosal linings of the upper aerodigestive tract, comprising 1) the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses, 2) the nasopharynx, 3) the hypopharynx, larynx, and trachea, and 4) the oral cavity and oropharynx. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most frequent malignant tumor of the head and neck region. The group of malignancies arise from different sites of head and neck region, they have similar pathogenesis, staging system, therapeutic strategy, and prognosis. It is rational to classify them into one category, HNSCC [1]. HNSCC accounts for approximately 3% of new cancer cases annually and is the fifth most common cancer in the world.
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