The prognostic value of HER-2/neu overexpression in colorectal cancer: evidence from 16 studies.

Human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER-2/neu) plays an important role in the progression of several types of cancer. Numerous studies examining the relationship between HER-2 overexpression and prognostic impact in patients with colorectal cancer have yielded inconclusive results. We therefore conducted a meta-analysis to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the prognostic value of HER-2 expression on the survival, which compared the positive and negative expressions of HER-2 in patients of the available studies. Hazard ratios (HRs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were pooled in terms of disease-specific or overall survival. A detailed search was made in PubMed for relevant original articles published in English. Finally, a total of 18 studies with 16 colorectal cancer patients were involved. Overexpression of HER-2 was negatively related to survival in colorectal cancer patients with the pooled HR of 1.05 (95% CI 0.78-1.31, P = 0.000). In conclusion, the finding from this present meta-analysis suggested that HER-2 overexpression was not related to poor prognostic of colorectal cancer.