Background: The role of cell-cycle protein cyclin D1 in lung cancer remains controversial. To clarify its impact on survival in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), we performed a meta-analysis on the currently available medial literature to quantitatively assess its role on survival of NSCLC according to cyclin D1 status.
Method: Published studies that investigated the association between cyclin D1 expression and NSCLC survival were identified. Meta-analysis was performed by using a DerSimonian-Laird model. Funnel plot was used to investigate publication bias and sources of heterogeneity were identified by using meta-regression analysis.
Result: A total of 24 studies with 2731 patients were evaluable for this meta-analysis. No statistical significance was found that cyclin D1 expression was associated with poor prognosis in NSCLC (hazard ratio 1.08 [95% CI, 0.80-1.45]) without publication bias found. But there was significant heterogeneity present; meta-regression analysis was used to explore the sources of heterogeneity and revealed that the outcome of analysis was influenced by cutoff values and ethnicity. No difference between positive and negative studies on study quality assessment was present.
Conclusion: The cyclin D1 expression is unlikely to be useful as a prognostic marker for NSCLC in clinical practice from current evidence. The conclusion should be confirmed by a large well-designed prospective study.
Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.