Prognostic Role of High Stathmin 1 Expression in Patients with Solid Tumors: Evidence from a Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background/Aims: Several recent studies have demonstrated that Stathmin 1expression may be closely associated with prognosis in patients with various types of cancers. In the present study, we conducted a meta-analysis of all available studies in the English literature to assess the prognostic value of Stathmin 1expression in patients with solid cancers. Methods: The online databases PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched for literature regarding Stathmin 1 and its association with patient outcomes associated with solid cancers. Results: A total of 23 articles including 26 studies that contained 5 335 patients were retrieved and analyzed. Our results indicated that high Stathmin 1 expression yielded a worse overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.17, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.81–2.60), disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 2.46, 95% CI: 2.00–3.02), disease-specific survival (DSS) (HR = 1.98, 95% CI: 1.58– 2.47) and progression-free survival (PFS)/recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.51–2.89). Furthermore, the association of high Stathmin 1 expression with poor survival was significant even for sub-group analyses of different tumor types, ethnicities, methods used to calculate HRs, detected methods, and analysis types. Conclusion: In summary, this meta-analysis determined that high Stathmin 1 expression is associated with poor prognosis in patients with solid cancers and expression of this protein could be a clinically useful prognostic biomarker.