Prognostic significance of KIF2A and KIF20A expression in human cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The kinesin family (KIF) is reported to be aberrantly expressed and significantly correlated with survival outcomes in patients with various cancers. This meta-analysis was carried out to quantitatively evaluate the prognostic values of partial KIF members in cancer patients. METHODS: Two well-known KIF members, KIF2A and KIF20A, were investigated to evaluate their potential values as novel prognostic biomarkers in human cancer. A comprehensive literature search was carried out of the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases up to April 2019. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the association of KIF2A and KIF20A expression with overall survival (OS) and clinicopathological parameters. RESULTS: Twenty-five studies involving 7262 patients were finally incorporated, including nine about KIF2A and sixteen about KIF20A. Our results indicated that patients with high expression of KIF2 and KIF20A tended to have shorter OS than those with low expression (HR = 2.23, 95% CI = 1.87–2.65, P < .001; HR = 1.77, 95% CI = 1.57–1.99, P < .001, respectively). Moreover, high expression of these 2 KIF members was significantly associated with advanced clinical stage (OR = 1.98, 95% CI: 1.57–2.50, P < .001; OR = 2.63, 95% CI: 2.03–3.41, P < .001, respectively), positive lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.32, 95% CI: 1.65–3.27, P < .001; OR = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.59–2.83, P < .001, respectively), and distant metastasis (OR = 2.20, 95% CI: 1.21–3.99, P = .010; OR = 5.25, 95% CI: 2.82–9.77, P < .001, respectively); only high KIF20A expression was related to poor differentiation grade (OR = 1.82, 95% CI: 1.09–3.07, P = .023). CONCLUSIONS: High expression of KIF2 and KIF20A in human cancer was significantly correlated with worse prognosis and unfavorable clinicopathological features, suggesting that these 2 KIF members can be used as prognostic biomarkers for different types of tumors. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42019134928.