The prognostic value of osteopontin expression in non-small cell lung cancer: a meta-analysis

To investigate the association of Osteopontin (OPN) expression in tumor tissue with clinicopathological features of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patients. Publications assessing the clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic significance of OPN in expression NSCLC were identified up to March 2014. A meta-analysis of eligible studies was performed using standard statistical methods to clarify the association between OPN expression and these clinical parameters. A total of eleven studies met the inclusion criteria, and included 1536 cases of NSCLC tumor tissue and 340 cases of normal lung tissue. The OPN expression rate in NSCLC tissue was higher than normal tissue [Odds ratio (OR) 6.427; 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.689-8.808; P = 0.000]. Simultaneously, we also found that OPN expression was positively associated with stage (OR 0.332; 95% CI 0.250-0.440; P = 0.000), lymph node metastasis (OR 3.094; 95% CI 2.295-4.172; P = 0.000), tumor size (tumor size <3 cm vs. ≥3 cm; OR 0.484; 95% CI 0.303-0.773; P = 0.002) and pathology (OR 0.611; 95% CI 0.466-0.800; P = 0.000). It was unrelated that OPN expression in NSCLC tissue with and degree of differentiation and other clinical features (P > 0.05). Experimental findings indicate that, OPN plays a crucial role in the development of NSCLC.