Relationship between high-mobility group box 1 overexpression in ovarian cancer tissue and serum: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: To implement a meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) overexpression in the tissue and serum of ovarian cancer patients, and to evaluate its prognostic significance. METHODS: Searches were made of China National Knowledge Infrastructure, EMBASE, WanFang, PubMed, MEDLINE, and Web of Science databases up to August 2015, with no language or style restrictions. Reference lists of related studies were also carefully reviewed to identify additional articles. RESULTS: The literature search identified a total of 12 relevant studies on HMGB1 expression for inclusion in the meta-analysis: seven in ovarian tumor tissue, four in ovarian tumor patient serum, and one in both tissue and serum. HMGB1 protein levels in ovarian cancer tissues were notably higher than those in normal ovarian tissues with no evidence of heterogeneity between studies (RD=0.64, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.57–0.70, Z=18.70, P<0.00001, I(2)=15%), and also higher than those in benign tumor tissues with no evidence of heterogeneity between studies (RD=0.52, 95% CI: 0.43–0.61, Z=11.14, P<0.00001, I(2)=0). Serum HMGB1 levels were similarly significantly higher in ovarian cancer patients than those with benign tumors or normal ovaries. Pooled mean differences of HMGB1 in ovarian cancer patients compared with patients with benign tumors or normal ovaries were 99.32 with 95% CI: 67.82–130.81, Z=6.18, P<0.00001, and 95.34 with 95% CI: 62.11–128.57, Z=5.62, P<0.0001. The pooled relative risk of ovarian cancer with high vs low HMGB1 expression levels was 1.40 with 95% CI: 1.09–1.79, Z=2.66, P=0.008, heterogeneity I(2)=50%. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis suggested that HMGB1 levels in both tissue and serum of ovarian cancer patients were significantly higher than those of benign tumor and normal ovarian samples. High serum or tissue HMGB1 expression may therefore be an effective molecular marker for ovarian benign or malignant tumor diagnosis and patient prognosis.