CXCR4 expression in immunohistochemistry of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine neoplasms: a meta-analysis

C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) is significantly associated with the development of various malignant tumors. This meta-analysis aims to investigate the expression of CXCR4 in the immunohistochemistry of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine neoplasms (GI-NENs).

A comprehensive literature search regarding gastrointestinal neuroendocrine neoplasms and CXCR4 was conducted using PubMed,Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library, with a cut off date of June 30, 2024.Two researchers independently screened the literature according to inclusion and exclusion criteria and assessed study quality using the Newcastle-OttawaScale. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata version 17.0. The pooled positive rate was employed to evaluate the expression of CXCR4 in the immunohistochemistry of GI-NENs.

A total of eight studies involving 501 patients were included in this research. The immunohistochemical analysis revealed positive CXCR4 expression in 174 patients. The meta-analysis calculated and summarized the combined positive rate (R: 0.41; 95% CI = 0.21-0.60, p = 0.00), indicating that the differences were statistically significant.

CXCR4 is highly expressed in the immunohistochemistry of GI-NENs, which may provide some evidence for the therapeutic application of CXCR4 antagonists in treating neuroendocrine neoplasms.