A meta-analysis of the prognostic impact of tissue golgi protein 73 (tGP73) in hepatocellular carcinoma

INTRODUCTION: To date, an increasing number of studies have revealed that GP73 may have prognostic value in liver cancer. However, most of the studies evaluated serum GP73, and the results regarding the prognostic value of tGP73 in liver cancer are still controversial. Therefore, in this meta-analysis, we aimed to determine whether tGP73 has any prognostic value in patients with HCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Relevant publications were searched for in PubMed, EMBASE, OVID, the Cochrane Library, and the Web of Science databases up to March 2023. The hazard ratio (HR) or odds ratio (OR) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of eligible studies were assessed by fixed-effects or random-effects models. In addition, subgroup analyses were conducted to investigate the possible causes of heterogeneity, and publication bias analysis was also performed to assess the reliability of the meta-analysis results. RESULTS: A total of 10 studies were included. These studies included 1569 HCC patients, and a meta-analysis was performed. The results of our meta-analysis showed that higher GP73 expression levels were significantly associated with poorer OS (HR = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.41–2.48, P < 0.0001, I(2) = 58%). However, there was no significant correlation between high GP73 expression and disease-free survival (DFS) (HR: 1.43, 95% CI: 0.93–2.33, P = 0.100). In addition, abnormal GP73 expression was also related to higher tumour tissue differentiation grade (OR = 3.03, 95% CI = 2.01–4.57, P < 0.0001, I(2) = 89%), later tumour stage (OR = 5.89, 95% CI = 2.31–14.99, P < 0.0001, I(2) = 0%), vascular invasion (OR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.12–2.64, P = 0.010, I(2) = 0%), multiple tumours (OR = 2.44, 95% CI = 1.37–3.68, P = 0.001, I(2) = 44%) and early postoperative tumour recurrence (OR = 1.92, 95% CI = 1.10–3.28, P = 0.020, I(2) = 62%). CONCLUSIONS: The meta-analysis showed that the overexpression of GP73 may be related to a poor prognosis of HCC, and it may also have a predictive effect on the invasion and metastasis of HCC.