Clinical significance of breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 expression in resected non-small cell lung cancer: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND The clinical significance of breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 (BRCA1) in nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients undergoing surgery remains unclear up to now. AIM To explore the relation of BRCA1 expression with clinicopathological character istics and survival in patients with resected NSCLC. METHODS EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, and The Cochrane Library databases were searched to identify the relevant articles. To assess the correlation between the expression of BRCA1 and clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with resected NSCLC patients, the combined relative risks or hazard ratios (HRs) with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals [CIs] were estimated. RESULTS Totally, 11 articles involving 1041 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The results indicated that the expression of BRCA1 was significantly correlated with prognosis of resected NSCLC. Positive BRCA1 expression signified a shorter overall survival (HR = 1.60, 95%CI: 1.25-2.05; P < 0.001) and disease-free survival (HR = 1.78, 95%CI: 1.42-2.23; P < 0.001). However, no significant association of BRCA1 expression with any clinicopathological parameters was observed. CONCLUSION BRCA1 expression indicates a poor prognosis in resected NSCLC patients. BRCA1 might serve as an independent biomarker to predict clinical outcomes and help to customize optimal adjuvant chemotherapy for NSCLC patients who had received surgical therapy.