Prognostic significance of soluble mesothelin in malignant pleural mesothelioma: a meta-analysis

// Long Tian 1, * , Rujun Zeng 2, * , Xin Wang 1, * , Cheng Shen 1 , Yutian Lai 1 , Mingming Wang 1 and Guowei Che 1 1 Department of Thoracic Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Guowei Che, email: guowei_che@yahoo.com Keywords: soluble mesothelin, malignant pleural mesothelioma, prognosis, meta-analysis Abbreviations: MPM: malignant pleural mesothelioma; CI: confidence interval; HR: hazard ratio Received: November 30, 2016     Accepted: April 10, 2017     Published: April 26, 2017 ABSTRACT Background: Soluble mesothelin is beneficial to detect the progression and the treatment response of malignant pleural mesothelioma. However, the prognostic value of soluble mesothelin in malignant pleural mesothelioma remains unclear. Methods: Hazard ratio with 95% CI was used to evaluate the prognostic value of soluble mesothelin and the effect of clinicopathological characteristics on the survival of malignant pleural mesothelioma. Results: Eight eligible studies involving 579 patients were selected for this meta-analysis. The results showed that soluble mesothelin level was significantly correlated with the survival of malignant pleural mesothelioma (pooled HR: 1.958, 95%CI: 1.531-2.504, p = 0.000; heterogeneity test: I 2 = 1.1%, p = 0.421). In addition, the survival of malignant pleural mesothelioma was significantly correlated with some clinicopathological characteristics such as tumor histology (HR = 3.214, 95% CI = 2.071-4.988, p = 0.000; heterogeneity test: I 2 = 0.0%, p = 0.623) and tumor stage (HR = 2.007; 95% CI = 1.477-2.727; p = 0.000; heterogeneity test: I 2 = 0.0%, p = 0.966). Conclusions: The survival of malignant pleural mesothelioma is significantly correlated with tumor histology and tumor stage. Furthermore, high soluble mesothelin level may lead to a poor prognosis for malignant pleural mesothelioma patients.