Abstract
Background Recently, Beclin-1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and non-tumor liver tissue have been investigated by several studies. However, the results are controversial. The aim of this study was to clarify the role of Beclin-1 in the occurrence of HCC by comparing the difference of Beclin-1 expression between HCC and non-tumor liver tissue. Methods An electronic retrieve for relevant studies was performed in PubMed, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wan Fang and Chinese VIP databases updated to December 31, 2017. Newcastle-Ottawa-Scale (NOS) was used to assess the quality of the eligible studies. Sensitivity, subgroup, and publication bias analyses were also carried out in this meta-analysis. Statistical analysis was performed by Review Manager 5.3 and STATA 12.0. Results Six high-quality studies with 357 HCC patients were eligible. There was no significant difference of Beclin-1 expression between HCC and non-tumor liver tissue (OR = 2.48, 95%CI = 0.64-9.58, P = 0.19). However, sensitivity analysis showed that Beclin-1 was lower in HCC than in non-tumor liver tissue after omitting Kang et al.’s study (OR = 4.14, 95% CI = 1.75-9.81, P = 0.001), and heterogeneity was not evident (P = 0.14, I² = 43%). Subgroup analysis suggested that heterogeneity may stem from ethnicity. The funnel plot and Egger’s test (P = 0.900) demonstrated that no significant publication bias was present in this meta-analysis. Conclusion This meta-analysis indicated that there was no significant difference of Beclin-1 expression between HCC and non-tumor liver tissue.
Highlights
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent type of primary liver cancer and has been a significant health problem worldwide due to its high mortality [1]
As for the ethnicity, Beclin-1 was lower in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) than that in non-tumor liver tissue among Caucasians (OR = 4.02, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.49-10.82, P = 0.006) with no heterogeneity (P = 0.40, I2 = 0%)
Subgroup analysis conducted according to ethnicity and result showed that Beclin-1 was lower in HCC than that in non-tumor liver tissue among Caucasians
Summary
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent type of primary liver cancer and has been a significant health problem worldwide due to its high mortality [1]. Since the symptoms of early-stage HCC are atypical, most patients present with metastasis at diagnosis. The prognosis for HCC patients was poor [3]. Beclin-1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and non-tumor liver tissue have been investigated by several studies. The aim of this study was to clarify the role of Beclin-1 in the occurrence of HCC by comparing the difference of Beclin-1 expression between HCC and non-tumor liver tissue
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