Meta-analysis of the prognostic value of soluble programmed death ligand-1 (sPD-L1) in cancers.

BACKGROUND: The soluble programmed death ligand-1 (sPD-L1) and its prognostic role in cancers have been investigated in numerous studies. However, due to the inconsistency on some findings, this meta-analysis was performed to assess the prognostic value of sPD-L1 in patients with cancer. METHODS: We searched the PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE, Wiley Online Library and ScienceDirect, and screened the studies for eligibility. Recurrence-free survival (RFS), progression-free survival (PFS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were for short term survival. The overall survival (OS) was for long term survival. RESULTS: Forty studies with 4441 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Elevated sPD-L1 was associated with short OS [HR = 2.44 (2.03-2.94), p = 0.000]. Moreover, a high sPD-L1 was predictive of worse DFS/RFS/PFS [HR = 2.52 (1.83-3.44), p = 0.000]. In addition, high sPD-L1 was consistently correlated with poor OS in irrespective of study type, univariate and multivariate analysis, ethnicity, cut-off value of sPD-L1, sample and treatment. In the subgroup analysis, high sPD-L1 was correlated with poor OS in gastrointestinal cancer, lung cancer, hepatic cancer, oesophageal cancer and clear cell renal cell carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: The present meta-analysis showed that a high level of sPD-L1 was associated with worse prognosis in some types of cancer.

Expression of caveolin-1 in breast cancer stroma as a potential prognostic biomarker of survival and progression: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: It has been shown that caveolin-1 plays a potential role as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in various cancer types. The aim of the present study was to clarify whether caveolin-1 expressed in the breast cancer stroma could be a prognostic factor for breast cancer patients. METHODS: We searched the PubMed, ScienceDirect and Web of Science databases for published literature investigating associations between stromal caveolin-1 expression and survival outcome in breast cancer patients. With respect to survival outcomes, the pooled hazard ratios (HRs) of caveolin-1 and the 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. RESULTS: Our meta-analysis identified a total of 10 studies involving 2072 cases. Further investigation demonstrated that a lack of caveolin-1 expression in the breast cancer stroma is a hazard for overall survival (OS) (HR = 2.33, 95% CI: 1.57-3.46) and disease-free/progression-free survival (DFS/PFS) (HR = 3.05, 95% CI: 2.26-4.12) in breast cancer patients. Moreover, lack of caveolin-1 expression in the cancer-associated fibroblasts was a significant predictor of DFS/PFS (HR = 2.79, 95% CI: 1.75-4.46). CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that lack of expression of caveolin-1 in the breast cancer stroma is associated with a poor prognosis.