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Updated: Mar 29, 2026
Author Spotlight: Advancements in Molecular Biomarker Testing for Non-Squamous Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Published on: September 8, 2023
Prognostic value of Bcl-2 expression in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer: a meta-analysis and systemic review
Jie Zhang1, Shengfei Wang1, Lei Wang2
1Department of Thoracic Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, People's Republic of China ; Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China ; Department of Oncology, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
Objective:
B-cell-lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) is a proto-oncogene that plays an important role in the regulation of apoptosis and cell survival. However, there are much conflicting data in the literature concerning the association between Bcl-2 and prognosis in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). There is little in the way of meta-analysis focused on Bcl-2 and its effect on NSCLC prognosis. This study was performed to provide an assessment of whether expression levels of Bcl-2 are associated with prognosis in patients with NSCLC.
Materials And Methods:
We searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure for all eligible studies. The combined hazard ratios (HRs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in terms of overall survival were evaluated.
Results:
Fifty published studies including 6,863 patients with lung cancer were included in this meta-analysis. Overall, Bcl-2 was expressed in 33% of the NSCLC tumors studied. Our analysis indicates that NSCLC patients with Bcl-2-positive expression have a better prognosis than those with Bcl-2-negative expression in both Asian and non-Asian study populations (HR 0.79, 95% CI 0.72-0.87, P<0.00001). However, Bcl-2-positive expression seems to have no significant impact on survival of stage I NSCLC patients.
Conclusion:
Our results indicated that Bcl-2 might be a useful prognostic marker for NSCLC generally. Larger clinical trials are needed to confirm the prognostic value of Bcl-2 in stage I NSCLC.
