Value of HMGB1 expression for assessing gastric cancer severity: a systematic meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical value of high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) expression levels in patients with gastric cancer. METHODS: Articles published from January 2000 to August 2022 were searched using PubMed, Google Scholar and Science Direct, Springer, Wiley and NIH to evaluate the clinicopathological significance of HMGB1 expression in gastric cancer. RESULTS: A total of 156 publications were selected, of which six studies, comprising 846 patients, met the criteria for inclusion in this study. Forest plots of clinicopathological characteristics indicated that HMGB1 expression was not associated with age (odds ratio (OR) = 1.07, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.89–1.28), sex (OR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.81–1.00), TNM (OR = 1.39, 95% CI: 0.82–2.37), N stage (OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 0.97–2.07), or tumor differentiation (OR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.71–1.29), but was highly correlated with pT stage (OR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.17–2.07). Funnel plots showed no significant publication bias in the included studies in terms of age, sex, TNM, pT stage, N stage, or tumor differentiation. CONCLUSION: HMGB1 expression was significantly correlated with tumor pT stage, but not with age, sex, TNM stage, tumor N stage, tumor differentiation, or lymphatic metastasis in patients with GC.