Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of OCT4 in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4) has been implicated in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), although the findings are controversial. We conducted a meta-analysis to assess the correlation between OCT4 and the clinicopathological characteristics and the prognostic value in HCC. METHODS: An electronic search for relevant articles was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, EMBASE database, Chinese CNKI, and Chinese WanFang database. Correlations between OCT4 expression and clinicopathological features and survival outcomes were analyzed. Pooled odds ratios and hazard ratios with 95% CIs were calculated using STATA 14.2 software. RESULTS: A total of 10 trials with 985 patients were included. Positive OCT4 expression was correlated with tumor size, tumor numbers, differentiation, and TNM stage. OCT4 expression was not correlated with gender, age, hepatitis B surface antigen, alfa-fetoprotein, liver cirrhosis, vascular invasion, or tumor encapsulation. OCT4 expression was associated with poor 3- and 5-year overall survival, and disease-free survival rate. CONCLUSION: OCT4 expression was associated with tumor size, tumor numbers, differentiation, and TNM stage in HCC. OCT4 may be a useful prognostic biomarker for HCC.