Prognostic value of mutation for poor outcome of Asian primary liver cancer patients: evidence from a cohort study and meta-analysis of 988 patients.

Several previous studies have investigated the association between gene () mutation and the poor outcome of primary liver cancer (PLC) patients; however, the results remain inconsistent. In the present study, mutation in 60 paired tumor and corresponding nontumor tissues derived from a cohort of 60 PLC patients was systematically analyzed. The results showed that mutation was only an independent risk factor for overall survival (OS), not for recurrence-free survival (RFS), and a meta-analysis was performed to verify this. Online databases were searched up to July 1, 2016. Studies about the association between mutation and the postsurgery survival of PLC patients were collected. A total of 988 patients from eight studies were analyzed; among them, 341 (34.51%) patients had mutation. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were 2.03 (1.64, 2.41) and 2.36 (1.31, 3.42) for OS and RFS, respectively. In conclusion, both the cohort study and meta-analysis suggested that the mutation was associated with postsurgery OS in Asian PLC patients. However, the relationship between mutation and recurrence should be confirmed by further studies.