Poor prognosis and SATB1 overexpression in solid tumors: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Several previous studies have reported the prognostic value of special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 (SATB1) in solid tumors. However, these studies produced inconsistent results because of their various limitations, including small sample sizes. Here, we describe a meta-analysis based on 17 studies including 3144 patients to search for connections between SATB1 overexpression and overall survival (OS) of patients with solid tumors. Seventeen studies (n = 3144) were assessed in the meta-analysis. Both univariate and multivariate analysis for survival indicated that high SATB1 reactivity significantly predicted poor prognosis. In the multivariate analysis, the combined hazard ratio (HR) for OS was 1.82 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.59–2.08, P < 0.0001). The pooled HR of the univariate analysis for OS was 1.96 (95% CI: 1.65–2.34, P < 0.0001). METHODS: Studies were identified by an electronic search of PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science, including publications prior to April 2017. Pooled HR values for OS were aggregated and quantitatively analyzed in the meta-analysis. CONCLUSION: The meta-analysis indicated that high SATB1 reactivity is significantly correlated with decreased survival in most cases of solid tumors. In addition, SATB1 shows promise as a prognostic biomarker and novel therapeutic target on the basis of its expression level in solid tumors.