Clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic value of POLE mutations in endometrial cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess the clinicopathological features and to confirm prognostic value of POLE exonuclease domain mutations (EDM) in endometrial carcinoma patients. METHODS: The PubMed, Web of Science, the data of China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wan fang Medical Network were systematically searched for relevant articles without a cut-off date. The keywords for the search were “endometrial cancer,” “endometrial carcinoma,” “EC,” “POLE mutations,” “POLE exonuclease domain mutations,” “POLE-mutant,” “clinical characteristics” “prognostic.” Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by using Review manager 5.3 and Stata 14.0 statistical software. RESULTS: Six cohort studies assessing 179 EC patients with POLE EDMs were included. The results indicated a favorable progression-free survival in POLE-mutant patients (HR = 0.32; 95% CI: = [0.09–1.18]). Furthermore, the overall survival was great in patients with POLE-mutant (HR = 0.68; 95% CI = [0.41–1.13]). It was shown that a significantly higher incidence of POLE mutations with Federation of International of Gynecologists and Obstetricians (FIGO) I group compared to FIGO II-IV group (pooled ORs: 0.34, 95% CI: [0.12–0.94], P = .04), POLE-mutant EC was not significantly associated with histology (OR = 0.56,95% CI: 0.29–1.23), tumor grade (OR = 1.22,95% CI:0.85–1.74), lymph-vascular space invasion (OR = 0.40,95% 0.06–2.42), depth of myometrial invasion (OR = 0.70,95% CI: 0.41–1.18), lymph node status (OR = 0.41, 95% 0.04–4.50), and European Society for Medical Oncology risk groups (OR = 0.68,95% CI: 0.37–1.26). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis has confirmed POLE EDMs may serve as a predictive biomarker of favorable prognosis. Further studies are needed to explore the appropriate clinical utility of POLE EDMs in EC.