The association of SOX2 with clinical features and prognosis in colorectal cancer: A meta-analysis

Objectives: The expression of SOX2 protein has been reported to be correlated with colorectal cancers. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the association of SOX2 with clinical features and prognosis in colorectal cancer. Methods: The relevant studies up to March 2019 were searched in Two English databases(PubMed and EMBASE) and two Chinese databases (CNKI and Wanfang database). Pooled ORs or HRs were used to assess the strength of the association between SOX2 and clinical parameters. Results: 14 studies involving 2077 colorectal cancer patients were included in the meta-analysis. Our results revealed there were no associations between SOX2 and gender and age. However, significant positive associations were observed for N categories (OR = 3.02, 95 %CI = 2.11-4.31), advanced stage (OR = 2.85, 95 %CI = 2.00-4.07), poor differentiation (OR = 1.90, 95 %CI = 1.38-2.64), distant metastasis (OR = 4.66, 95 %CI = 2.77-7.85) and poor OS (HR = 1.49, 95 %CI = 1.09-2.03). Conclusion: The results indicated that SOX2 protein may serve as a novel prognostic factor for patients with colorectal cancer.