Effects of programmed death ligand 1 on the prognosis of neuroblastoma: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have investigated the prognostic role of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in patients with neuroblastoma, while the results are still controversial. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to clarify the relationship between the expression of PD-L1 and the prognosis of neuroblastoma. METHODS: Search electronic databases include PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, Scopus and Web of Science, and the search time is set to build the database until January 2021. Hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to analyze the included results. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata 15.0 software. RESULTS: This review will be disseminated in print by peer-review. CONCLUSION: The study will provide updated evidence for the evaluation of whether the expression of PD-L1 is associated with poor prognosis in patients with neuroblastoma. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The private information from individuals will not be published. This systematic review also should not damage participants’ rights. Ethical approval is not available. The results may be published in a peer-reviewed journal or disseminated in relevant conferences OSF REGISTRATION NUMBER: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/FBCY6.