Over-expression of TWIST, an epithelial-mesenchymal transition inducer, predicts poor survival in patients with oral carcinoma.

TWIST, an epithelial-mesenchymal transition inducer, has been thought to play a critical role in the progression of a number of malignancies. Published studies reporting the association of TWIST expression with oral carcinoma risk has yielded conflicting results. Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis to address this controversy. After rigorous searching and screening, a total of seven studies were included. The results showed that the TWIST positive expression rate in oral cancer tissues was higher than that in the normal tissues. TWIST expression might have a correlation with clinical features such as low differentiation, advanced clinical stage, presence of lymph node metastasis and local recurrence, but not age, gender, T stage and smoking and drinking. The data suggested that TWIST might play critical roles in the cancer progression and act as a prognostic factor in oral cancer patients.