Meta-analysis indicating that high ALCAM expression predicts poor prognosis in colorectal cancer

Activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) has been linked to the development and progress of colorectal cancer (CRC). In this meta-analysis, we examined whether ALCAM expression is predictive of survival outcomes in CRC patients. We included 7 studies with 2048 patients in our meta-analysis after searching the PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, OVID and Web of Science databases. High ALCAM expression was associated with poor overall survival among CRC patients (HR = 1.94, 95%CI = 1.05-3.58, P = 0.03). High ALCAM expression was also associated with aggressive clinicopathological features such as tumor stage (T3,T4/T1,T2; HR = 2.66, 95%CI = 2.01-3.51, P < 0.00001), nodal status (Positive/Negative, HR = 2.12, 95%CI = 1.61-2.82, P < 0.00001), distant metastasis (M1/M0, HR = 3.30, 95%CI = 2,21-4.91, P < 0.00001), tumor grade (grade3/grade1,2, HR = 1,28, 95% CI = 1.00-1.62, P = 0.05), and patient age (> 60/< 60, HR = 1.29, 95%CI = 1.01-1.66, P = 0.05). These findings indicate that high ALCAM expression is associated with poor prognosis and advanced clinicopathological characteristics in CRC patients.