To explore the association of c-erbB-2 protein expression with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) after surgery.

Non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) is one of the pathways used to repair the DNA double-strand breaks. A number of genes involved in NHEJ have been implicated as lung cancer susceptibility genes such as the LIG1. However, some studies have generated conflicting results. The aim of this review and meta-analysis was to investigate the association between the LIG1 gene polymorphism and lung cancer risk. Studies focusing on the relationship between the LIG1 gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to lung cancer were selected from several electronic databases, with the last search up to October 25, 2014. Data were extracted by two independent reviewers, and the meta-analysis was performed with STATA version 12.0 software, calculating odds ratios (ORs) with 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CIs). According to the inclusion criteria, we included ten studies with a total of 4012 lung cancer cases and 5629 healthy controls in the meta-analysis. The results showed that the rs156641 polymorphism was significantly associated with lung cancer risk (dominant model: OR 0.694, 95 % CI 0.549-0.878; homozygote model: OR 0.677, 95 % CI 0.526-0.871; heterozygote model: OR 0.712, 95 % CI 0.556-0.913; additive model: OR 0.859, 95 % CI 0.767-0.962), whereas no association was found between rs3730931/rs439132/rs20579 polymorphisms and lung cancer. Our meta-analysis suggested that the rs156641 polymorphism in the LIG1 gene might be associated with an increased risk of lung cancer.

The objective of this study is to determine the diagnostic value of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) in patients with recurrent or residual prostate cancer (PCa) after radical prostatectomy. Studies were systematically searched in the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane library, SCI, CBM, CNKI, VIP, Wan Fang, and other databases. Additional studies were manually searched using the references of the retrieved articles. The retrieved deadline was Sep. 6th, 2014. Selection of eligible studies for inclusion was based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the quality of the studies was reviewed based on the QUADAS criteria. The Meta Disc 1.4 and Stata 12.1 software were used for meta-analysis, and a summary receiver operating characteristic curve was constructed. The patient-based pooled weighted estimates of the sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio, and 95 % confidence interval were calculated. Seven articles (12 studies) were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled estimates of the sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the curve were 0.88 (95 % CI 0.84-0.91), 0.87 (95 % CI  0.81-0.92), and 0.9391, respectively. The diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was 50.4 (95 % CI 26.0-97.6) and Q* was 0.8764. DCE-MRI has high sensitivity and specificity in the evaluation of locally recurrent or residual PCa after radical prostatectomy.

The aim of this article is to review randomized and non-randomized trials and meta-analysis comparing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) plus surgery versus surgery alone in resectable esophageal cancers. The article examines the value of NAC as a standard of care in the era of multimodality treatment with availability of different therapeutic options. The emphasis is on assessment of benefit of NAC in terms of survival (long and short term) rate of RO resection in resectable esophageal cancers of any histopathologic type. The in-hospital post-operative morbidity and mortality in NAC group, chemotherapeutic drug regimens and their response rates and optimal number of cycles to be used will also be addressed.

Although TACE-RFA combination presented synergetic effect over monotherapy in patients with early HCC, whether it can achieve comparable survival outcome as surgical resection is still not clear. This study tried to pool previous studies to assess the survival outcome of TACE-RFA versus SR alone in early HCC patients with resectable small tumor. Four retrospective studies were included in this study. Pooled analysis showed that TACE-RFA provides comparable one and three year three overall survival (OS) rate and one year recurrence free survival (RFS) rate to surgical resection (SR) in the patients. However, this combination is associated with significantly lower three year RFS rate compared with SR. As to surgical complications, TACE-RFA group had significantly lower risk of major complications. Therefore, SR should still be considered as the primary choice for early HCC patients. But surgical complications should also be considered when deciding surgical procedures. Future large RCTs are required to confirm the findings of this study.

The aim of this meta-analysis is to identify whether two common genetic polymorphisms (rs1042838 G > T and rs10895068 C > T) in the PGR gene may contribute to the pathogenesis of endometrial cancer.

To conduct a metaanalysis in order to determine the association between matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 expression and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) progression.

To assess the clinical value of using arterial spin labeling (ASL) technique preoperatively for non-invasive tumor grading in glioblastoma (GBM) patients.

A metaanalysis was performed to investigate the association between serum osteopontin (OPN) levels and the clinical pathological features in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

The role of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in the adjuvant treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not been well-established. Our meta-analysis aimed to determine whether the administration of EGFR-TKIs could improve the outcomes of patients with NSCLC undergoing complete resection.

The prognostic factors of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain controversial.

Recent studies have indicated that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the 8q24 region may be a risk factor for prostate cancer (PCa). Here, we performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the association between the 8q24 rs6983267 T/G polymorphism and PCa risk. A systematic literature search was carried out in multiple electronic databases independently by two investigators. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals for 8q24 rs6983267 T/G and PCa were calculated using a fixed-effect model (the Mantel-Haenszel method). In total, 24 case-control studies from 19 articles were included in our meta-analysis. Our analysis indicated that there is a significant PCa risk associated with the rs6983267 polymorphism in a dominant model (GG vs GT+TT, pooled OR = 1.298, P < 0.001); recessive model (GG+GT vs TT, pooled OR = 1.302, P < 0.001); and homozygote comparison (GG vs TT, pooled OR = 1.494, P < 0.001). Similarly, in a subgroup analysis of European and Asian descent, our results revealed that there are associations between rs6983267 T/G polymorphism and PCa susceptibility with the dominant model (GG vs GT+TT), recessive model (GG+GT vs TT), and homozygote comparison (GG vs TT). To investigate the association between rs6983267 and risk of PCa under different clinical conditions, further analyses were conducted regarding different clinical characteristics including the Gleason score, tumor stage, and PSA level to provide a more comprehensive view of PCa risk and this SNP. Publication bias was assed using the Begg test and the Egger test, and none was detected.

Genetic polymorphisms (C677T and A1298C) in methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) were shown to be related to prostate cancer risk in previous studies; however, the results are controversial. We performed a meta-analysis of previous studies and quantitatively estimated these associations. Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane Library Database were searched for published case-control studies evaluating the association between C677T (or A1298C) and prostate cancer risk. Pooled associations were presented as odds ratios (ORs) along with their 95% confidence intervals. Twenty-one case control studies were identified for meta-analysis that included 21,581 participants. No significant associations were found between the MTHFR polymorphisms C677T or A1298C and prostate cancer risk in our meta-analysis. However, in subgroup analyses, the C677T CT polymorphism was associated with increased prostate cancer risk in East Asians (CT vs CC+TT: OR = 1.324, P = 0.03). The A1298C CC polymorphism in MTHFR was also linked to slightly reduced prostate cancer risk in European residents (CC vs AC+AA: OR = 0.751, P = 0.004; CC vs AA: OR = 0.768, P = 0.011), whereas it was associated with a significantly increased prostate cancer risk in Asian residents (CC vs AA: OR = 1.862, P = 0.006). The C677T CT polymorphism of MTHFR may be a risk factor for prostate cancer in East Asians. The association between the MTHFR A1298C CC genotype and prostate cancer risk may vary within different populations. Large-scale well-designed studies are required to confirm these associations.

Metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) has been identified as a potential cancer biomarker, yet the mechanism by which it influences the development of cancer remains unknown. In this study, we aimed to correlate MALAT1 expression with pathological features and prognosis in cancer patients. Several databases were searched using combinations of keywords relating to MALAT1 and cancer. After selection of relevant cohort studies according to strict criteria, a meta-analysis was conducted. Twelve studies were analyzed, involving 958 cancer patients. Elevated MALAT1 expression was associated with poor prognosis and larger tumors [prognosis: hazard ratio = 3.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.98-4.23, P = 0.000; tumor size: odds ratio (OR) = 0.40, 95%CI = 0.21-0.74, P = 0.003]. However, no connection with histological grade, T-stage, lymph node (LN) metastasis, or distant metastasis was established (all P > 0.05). A correlation between increased expression and poor prognosis was observed in the large and small sample-size subgroups (all P< 0.05), as was a relationship with large tumor size (OR = 0.30, 95%CI = 0.13-0.71, P = 0.006). Expression was correlated with T-stage and distant metastasis in the small sample-size subgroup (all P < 0.05), but no association was detected regarding histological grade, LN metastasis in either subgroup (all P > 0.05). Our findings demonstrate that elevated MALAT1 expression correlates with large tumor size, advanced tumor stage, and poor prognosis, and might therefore be utilized to evaluate clinical pathological features and prognostic out come for cancer patients.

Previous studies have revealed that the expression level of microRNA-29a (miR-29a) was remarkably different in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and healthy controls, indicating that miR-29a can be used as a diagnostic marker of CRC, but the results have been inconsistent. We conducted this meta-analysis to assess the diagnostic performance of blood-based miR-29a for CRC. We performed a systematic review of studies published over the past two decades to investigate the diagnostic performance of serum miR-29a for the diagnosis of CRC. QUADAS-2 was used to evaluate the quality of the studies. Performance characteristics (diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and other measures of accuracy) were pooled and examined using random-effect models. Five studies, which included 281 CRC patients and 299 healthy controls, met the inclusion criteria. The summary estimates for miR-29a in CRC diagnoses showed a diagnostic sensitivity of 0.59 (95%CI = 0.53-0.65), a specificity of 0.89 (95%CI = 0.85-0.93), and a diagnostic odds ratio of 12.22 (95%CI = 5.07-29.44). The area under curve and Q value for the summary receiver operating characteristic curves were 0.9128 and 0.8453, respectively. In conclusion, miR-29a may be a novel potential biomarker for CRC diagnosis.

In this study, we sought to evaluate the efficacy of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) plus radiofrequency ablation (RFA; experimental group) versus RFA treatment (control group) in patients receiving palliative treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma. To summarize the available evidence, we used the Review Manager 5.1 software to perform a meta-analysis of English-language articles published in public databases prior to 2014. Based on 6 studies that met the inclusion criteria, a total of 531 (experimental group, 272; control group, 259) patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis demonstrated that the experimental group had a higher 3-year survival rate [risk ratios (RRs) = 1.41; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.03-1.94; P < 0.05] and a higher 2-year survival rate (RR = 1.11; 95%CI = 1.01-1.23; P < 0.05) than the control group. In the overall meta-analysis, the overall RRs were 2.02 (95%CI = 1.40-2.91; P < 0.05) and 1.63 (95%CI = 1.06-2.51; P < 0.05) for 3- and 5-year recurrence-free survival, respectively. Furthermore, the overall meta-analysis showed an overall RR of 0.75 (95%CI = 0.60-0.93; P < 0.05) for the incidence of tumor progression and an overall RR of 1.19 (95%CI = 0.33-4.33; P > 0.05) for the major complication rate. In a sensitivity analysis, the above mentioned meta-analytic estimates were unchanged by the removal of 1 study at a time. The meta-analysis suggested that the experimental group had a higher survival rate, a higher recurrence-free survival rate, and a lower incidence of tumor progression than the corresponding control group.

The specific correlation between CXCR4 expression and survival in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been investigated independently; however, these have yielded inconsistent results. Therefore, we examined the exact relationship between CXCR4 expression and NSCLC in this meta-analysis. The bibliographic databases in English and Chinese were carefully searched and data regarding the prognostic value of CXCR4 and its association with pathological parameters of NSCLC were collected. Pooled odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were applied. A total of twelve studies (CXCR4 positive cases = 565, CXCR4 negative = 755; 2003-2013) that matched our predefined criteria were finally incorporated into our study. The pooled OR revealed that expression of CXCR4 in NSCLC patients was apparently correlated with lymphatic metastasis, distant metastasis, and TNM stages (lymphatic metastasis: OR = 1.91, 95%CI = 1.21-3.27, P = 0.018; distant metastasis: OR = 4.81, 95%CI = 1.69-13.66, P = 0.003; TNM stages: OR = 3.91, 95%CI = 1.22-12.55, P = 0.022). Positive expression of CXCR4 was also strongly correlated with a shorter overall survival (OS) rate in NSCLC patients (hazard ratio = 2.10, 95%CI = 1.21-2.99, P < 0.05). Further stratification by ethnicity indicated a negative association between CXCR4 expression and NSCLC development and prognosis in Asians NSCLC patients in all four models (P < 0.05). This indicated that elevated CXCR4 expression may be correlated with aggressive metastasis, advanced TNM stages, and shorter OS rate in NSCLC patients, suggesting a poor prognostic outcome of this disease.

We evaluated the associations between three common polymorphisms in the AGER gene and the risks of breast (BC) and lung (LC) cancer using meta-analysis. A systematic electronic search of the literature was conducted to identify all potential correlation studies in Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PubMed, CISCOM, China BioMedicine (CBM), and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases. Five case-control studies that investigated the correlation of AGER gene polymorphisms with BC and LC were included in the meta-analysis, representing 4337 subjects. An increased frequency of the AGER rs1800625 T>C polymorphism was observed in patients with either BC or LC. We found that the frequencies of AGER rs1800624 T>A and rs2070600 G>A variants were positively related to the risks of BC and LC under allelic models, but that these relationships were not detected under dominant models. Disease-stratified results under allelic models demonstrated that the frequencies of the AGER rs1800625 T>C and rs2070600 G>A polymorphisms were positively correlated with the susceptibility to LC, while the same correlations were not found in BC. Further subgroup analysis by genotyping method indicated that the rs1800624 T>A variant was associated with increased risks of BC and LC under a dominant model in both non-polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (non-PCR-RFLP) and PCR-RFLP subgroups. In conclusion, these data indicated that common polymorphisms in the AGER gene might increase the risks of BC and LC.

The administration and intensity of bevacizumab-based maintenance therapy after induction treatment with bevacizumab is still a matter of debate. Thus, the present meta-analysis and an indirect comparison were performed to clarify these issues.

Metabolism in the tumor microenvironment can play a critical role in tumorigenesis and tumor aggression. Metabolic coupling may occur between tumor compartments; this phenomenon can be prognostically significant and may be conserved across tumor types. Monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) play an integral role in cellular metabolism via lactate transport and have been implicated in metabolic synergy in tumors. The transporters MCT1 and MCT4 are regulated via expression of their chaperone, CD147.