Prognostic significance of the EGFR pathway in nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the prognostic impact of the EGF receptor (EGFR) pathway molecules and assess their clinical usefulness. Methods: We conducted a systematic review. Pubmed and EMBASE were searched January 2014. The prognostic relevance of EGFR, JAK, PI3K, PIK3CA, STAT3, STAT5, PTEN, AKT, mTOR, GRB2, SOS, RAF, RAS, MAPK, ERK, MEK and CCND1 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma was assessed. The outcomes considered were overall survival, disease-free survival and tumor-node-metastasis stage. Twenty-two studies were included. Risk of bias was evaluated. Meta-analysis for which pooled hazard ratios and 95% CIs were calculated. Conclusion: EGFR overexpression predicts a worse overall survival and disease-free survival in nasopharyngeal carcinoma, but no specific causal pathway molecule could be identified.