Hai-hua Qian1, Tian-shu Xu2, Xiao-qin Cai1, Tian-li Ji1, Hai-xia Guo1. 1. Anorectal Branch, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China. 2. Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Drum Tower Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, 321 Zhongshan Road, Nanjing 210008, Jiangsu, PR China. Electronic address: tianshu_xu@163.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Observational studies on the prognostic role of thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1) in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are controversial. METHODS: To clarify the impact of TTF-1 in NSCLC survival, we performed this meta-analysis that included eligible studies. The combined hazard ratios and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals were calculated in terms of overall survival. RESULTS: A total of 17 studies with 2235 patients were evaluable for this meta-analysis. The studies were categorized by histology, disease stage and patient race. Our results suggested that TTF-1 overexpression had a favorable impact on survival of patients with NSCLC, the HR (95% CI) was 0.49 (0.42 to 0.55) overall, 0.46 (0.38-0.54) in Asian patients, 0.52 (0.42-0.63) in non-Asian patients, 0.45 (0.38-0.52) in adenocarcinoma, 0.63 (0.39-0.86) in stage I NSCLC, and 0.43 (0.33-0.53) in stage IIIb-IV NSCLC. The data collected were not sufficient to determine the prognostic value of VEGF in patients with squamous cell lung carcinomas. But there was a high heterogeneity between the studies. CONCLUSION: TTF-1 overexpression indicates a favorable prognosis for patients with NSCLC, this effect appears also significant when the analysis is restricted in lung AC patients, stage I and stage IIIb-IV NSCLC.
BACKGROUND: Observational studies on the prognostic role of thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1) in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are controversial. METHODS: To clarify the impact of TTF-1 in NSCLC survival, we performed this meta-analysis that included eligible studies. The combined hazard ratios and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals were calculated in terms of overall survival. RESULTS: A total of 17 studies with 2235 patients were evaluable for this meta-analysis. The studies were categorized by histology, disease stage and patient race. Our results suggested that TTF-1 overexpression had a favorable impact on survival of patients with NSCLC, the HR (95% CI) was 0.49 (0.42 to 0.55) overall, 0.46 (0.38-0.54) in Asian patients, 0.52 (0.42-0.63) in non-Asian patients, 0.45 (0.38-0.52) in adenocarcinoma, 0.63 (0.39-0.86) in stage I NSCLC, and 0.43 (0.33-0.53) in stage IIIb-IV NSCLC. The data collected were not sufficient to determine the prognostic value of VEGF in patients with squamous cell lung carcinomas. But there was a high heterogeneity between the studies. CONCLUSION:TTF-1 overexpression indicates a favorable prognosis for patients with NSCLC, this effect appears also significant when the analysis is restricted in lung AC patients, stage I and stage IIIb-IV NSCLC.