Abstract
BACKGROUND: Observational studies on the prognostic role of programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are controversial. METHODS: To clarify the impact of PD-L1 in NSCLC survival, we performed this meta-analysis that included eligible studies. The combined hazard ratios (HR) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated in terms of overall survival. RESULTS: A total of five studies with 877 patients were evaluable for this meta-analysis. Our results suggested that PD-L1 overexpression had a poor impact on survival of patients with NSCLC, the HR (95% CI) was 1.43 (1.24-1.63) overall, 1.51 (1.24-1.7954) in Asian patients, 1.35 (1.08-1.63) in non-Asian patients. Moreover, there was no heterogeneity between the studies. CONCLUSIONS: PD-L1 overexpression indicates a poor prognosis for patients with NSCLC.