β-catenin overexpression in the nucleus predicts progress disease and unfavourable survival in colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis

• Published in: PloS one 2013-05, Vol.8 (5), p.e63854-e63854
• Main Authors: Chen, Zhigang, He, Xin, Jia, Minyue, Liu, Yang, Qu, Dihong, Wu, Dang, Wu, Pin, Ni, Chao, Zhang, Zhigang, Ye, Jun, Xu, Jinghong, Huang, Jian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: beta Catenin - genetics; beta Catenin - metabolism; Cancer; Cell cycle; Cell Nucleus - genetics; Cell Nucleus - metabolism; Colon; Colorectal cancer; Colorectal carcinoma; Colorectal Neoplasms - genetics; Colorectal Neoplasms - mortality; Colorectal Neoplasms - pathology; Correlation; Cytoplasm; Disease prevention; Disease Progression; Education; Gastroenterology; Gene Expression; Hospitals; Humans; Intervention; Laboratories; Lymph nodes; Medical ethics; Medical prognosis; Medical research; Medicine; Meta-analysis; Metastases; Metastasis; Molecular biology; Neoplasm Grading; Neoplasm Staging; Nuclei; Oncology; Pathology; Patients; Prognosis; Proportional Hazards Models; Publication Bias; Rectum; Studies; Survival; β-Catenin
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063854

β-catenin plays a key role in the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, its prognostic significance for patients with CRC remains controversial. Identical search strategies were used to search relevant literatures in the PubMed, Embase and Web of Science databases. The correlation between β-catenin expression and clinicopathological features and prognosis was analyzed. A total of 18 studies met the inclusion criteria, which comprised 3665 cases. Meta-analysis suggested that β-catenin overexpression in the nucleus was significantly associated with disease free survival (DFS) (n = 541 in 3 studies; HR = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.28-2.71; Z = 3.26; P = 0.001) and overall survival (OS) for CRC patients (n = 2630 in 10 studies; HR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.12-2.14; Z = 2.62; P = 0.009). However, there was no significant association between β-catenin expression in the cytoplasm and OS (n = 1327 in 3 studies; HR = 1.04, 95% CI: 0.88-1.24, Z = 0.46, P = 0.643). The combined odds ratio (OR) of β-catenin in the nucleus indicated that β-catenin overexpression was associated with advanced stage CRC (n = 950 in 7 studies; OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.53-0.94; Z = 2.35; P = 0.019) and metastasis of CRC (n = 628 in 5 studies; OR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.25-0.96, Z = 2.06, P = 0.039). β-catenin overexpression in the nucleus had no correlation with the tumor site (colon or rectum), differentiation grade, lymph node status or depth of invasion. The pooled ORs were 1.09 (95% CI: 0.41-2.91, Z = 0.18, P = 0.856), 1.27(95% CI: 0.76-2.10, Z = 0.92, P = 0.357), 0.71(95% CI: 0.46-1.09, Z = 1.58, P = 0.115) and 0.82(95% CI: 0.4-1.68, Z = 0.53, P = 0.594). This study showed that β-catenin overexpression in the nucleus, rather than in the cytoplasm, appeared to be associated with progress disease and a worse prognosis for CRC patients.