Association of reduced immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin with a poor ovarian cancer prognosis--results of a meta-analysis.

PURPOSE

E-cadherin is a transmemberane protein which is responsible for adhesion of endothelial cells. The aim of our study was to assess existing evidence of associations between reduced expression of E-cadherin and prognosis of ovarian cancer with a discussion of potential approaches to exploiting any prognostic value for improved clinical management.

METHODS

We conducted a meta-analysis of 9 studies (n=915 patients) focusing on the correlation of reduced expression of E-cadherin with overall survival. Data were synthesized with random or fixed effect hazard ratios.

RESULTS

The studies were categorized by author/year, number of patients, FIGO stage, histology, cutoff value for E-cadherin positivity, and methods of hazard rations (HR) estimation, HR and its 95% confidence interval (CI). Combined hazard ratios suggested that reduced expression of E-cadherin positivity was associated with poor overall survival (OS), HR=2.10, 95% CI:1.13-3.06.

CONCLUSION

The overall survival of the E-cadherin negative group with ovarian cancer was significant poorer than the E-cadherin positive group. Upregulation of E-cadherin is an attractive therapeutic approach that could exert significant effects on clinical outcome of ovarian cancer.