Prognostic value of NEK2 overexpression in digestive system cancers: a meta-analysis and systematic review

Many studies have reported that NEK2 is overexpressed in digestive system cancers (DSCs) and is also correlated with patient survival. We performed a meta-analysis to comprehensively evaluate the prognostic role of NEK2 expression in DSCs.

A comprehensive literature search was performed using PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science. Synthesized hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to evaluate the influence of NEK2 overexpression on the prognosis and clinicopathological features of patients with DSCs.

A total of 13 studies involving 1,917 patients was included. Overall, patients with high NEK2 expression had poorer overall survival (HR =1.45; 95% CI: 1.15-1.83; P=0.002) and disease-free survival/recurrence-free survival (HR =2.28; 95% CI: 1.54-3.37; P<0.0001). Furthermore, subgroup analysis also suggested that elevated NEK2 expression was associated with poorer overall survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HR =1.45; 95% CI: 1.05-2.00; P=0.02) and colorectal cancer (HR =2.03; 95% CI: 1.16-3.54; P=0.01). Additionally, NEK2 overexpression was also associated with pretreatment serum AFP level (OR =1.79; 95% CI: 1.23-2.61; P<0.01) and portal vein thrombosis (OR =2.74; 95% CI: 1.22-6.17; P=0.01) in hepatocellular carcinoma.

NEK2 might act as a useful prognostic predictor and a potential therapeutic target in DSCs. However, multicenter homogeneous studies with larger sample sizes are needed to further confirm our findings owing to some limitations in our meta-analysis.