Abstract
BACKGROUND: The prognostic role of targeting protein for Xklp2 (TPX2) in solid tumors has been investigated in several researches, but the results remain controversial. Here we present a meta-analysis to systematically review the association between TPX2 expression levels and prognosis of human solid tumors. METHODS: Studies published until December 2017 were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, and EBSCO, 13 studies (2134 patients) were collected for analysis. Odds ratios (ORs) for overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) from individual studies were calculated by the application of Mantel-Haenszel random effect model. Pooled ORs were estimated by Z test. Publication bias and interstudy heterogeneity analyses were also performed. RESULTS: TPX2 overexpression was associated with poor OS at 3 and 5 years [OR = 4.63, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.27-6.56, P < .00001; OR = 4.05, 95% CI: 2.32-7.07, P < .00001, respectively] of solid tumors. Similar results were observed with DFS at 3 and 5 years (OR = 3.35, 95% CI: 1.83-6.14, P < .0001; OR = 2.94, 95% CI: 1.74-4.98, P < .0001, respectively). Subgroup analysis revealed that increased TPX2 expression was related to worse prognosis of gastric cancer and hepatocellular cancer, while irrelevant to esophageal squamous cell cancer at 5-year survival rate. CONCLUSIONS: Overexpression of TPX2 is related to poor survival rate in most solid tumors, which indicates that the expression level of TPX2 is a significant prognostic parameter and potential therapeutic target in various solid tumors.