Prognostic significance of matrix metalloproteinase-7 in gastric cancer survival: a meta-analysis.

The prognostic role of matrix metalloproteinase-7 in gastric cancer survival has been widely evaluated. However, the results are controversial. We aimed to set up a meta-analysis to reach a conclusion on the prognostic significance of metalloproteinase-7 in gastric cancer survival as well as its association with clinicopathological parameters. We searched popular databases from 1988 until October 2014 to gather eligible peer-reviewed papers addressing the prognostic effect of matrix metalloproteinase-7 in gastric cancer patients' survival. The CASP check list was used for quality appraisal. Pooled hazard ratio (HR) for survival and odds ratio (OR) for association with their 95% confidence interval (CI) were considered as summary measurements. Finally, 1208 gastric cancer patients from nine studies were included in the meta-analysis. Pooled HR estimate for survival was 2.01 (95% CI = 1.62 - 2.50, P < 0.001), which indicated a significant poor prognostic effect for matrix metalloproteinase-7. Sensitivity analysis detected no dominancy for any study. No publication bias was detected according to Egger's and Begg's tests. Clinicopathological assessment revealed that higher matrix metalloproteinase-7 expression is associated with deeper invasion (pooled OR = 3.20; 95% CI = 1.14 - 8.96; P = 0.026), higher TNM stage (pooled OR = 3.67; 95% CI = 2.281-5.99; P<0.001), lymph node metastasis (pooled OR = 2.84; 95% CI = 1.89 - 4.25; P<0.001), and distant metastasis (pooled OR = 3.68; 95% CI = 1.85 - 7.29; P<0.001), but not with histological grade. This meta-analysis indicated a significant poor prognostic effect of matrix metalloproteinase-7 in gastric cancer survival. Additionally it was associated with aggressive tumor phenotype.