VEGFR-2 as a novel predictor of survival in gastric cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background Expression of VEGFRs may affect cancer prognosis. The aim of this work is to evaluate the prognostic significance of VEGFRs of patients with gastric cancer. Methods The databases PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library as well as ASCO and ESMO were searched systematically for articles reporting the prognostic significance of tissue VEGFRs in gastric cancer. The statistical analyses were carried out using Stata version 12.0. Results A total of 8 articles comprising 950 patients were eligible for meta-analysis. The combined HR of studies evaluating total VEGFRs overexpression was 1.42 (95% CI 1.01-2.00, P  = 0.044), suggesting that it had prognosis significance in overall survival of gastric cancer. Subgroup analysis showed that it was VEGFR-2 (HR 1.81, 95% CI 1.31–2.49, P P  = 0.787) overexpression was associated with an increased risk of median overall survival (mOS) and it can be a potentially predictive biomarker for gastric cancer. Conclusions VEGFR-2 overexpression is a promising negative prognosis predictor for patients with gastric cancer. The prognosis significance of VEGFR-3 still need further study.