High expression of S100A8 and S100A9 is associated with poor disease-free survival in patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The expression of S100A8 and S100A9 is found to be related with the survival of cancer patients, but the results and information regarding their prognostic significance are inconsistent in literature. This study, therefore, aimed to perform a comprehensive meta-analysis and determine the prognostic significance of S100A8 and S100A9 expression in patients with cancer. METHODS: Data were collected by performing a literature search on the PubMed, Cochrane library, and Scopus databases. Pooled hazard ratio (HR) with confidence interval (CI) was calculated to assess the correlation between S100A8 and S100A9 expression and survival in patients with cancer. RESULTS: In total, 5 studies that enrolled 735 cancer patients were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled HR concerning S100A8 and S100A9 expression was 1.98 (95% CI: 1.20–3.29, P=0.008) for disease-free survival (DFS), indicating an association between high expression of S100A8 and S100A9 and poor DFS in cancer patients. However, the expression of S100A8 and S100A9 was not significantly correlated with disease-specific survival (HR 1.71, 95% CI: 0.86–3.40, P=0.128). DISCUSSION: The current meta-analysis revealed that S100A8 and S100A9 expression may be a potential prognosticator of DFS in cancer patients. The present systematic review is the first to investigate the survival outcomes of cancer patients with S100A8 and S100A9 expression.