Myeloid cell leukemia-1 as a candidate prognostic biomarker in cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Studies have shown that myeloma cell leukemia-1 (MCL-1) is associated with the prognosis of patients with cancer. To further validate the prognostic value of MCL-1 in cancer, a meta-analysis was conducted.

Methods

Six databases were searched using Boolean logic search formulas. Data were extracted from the included literature, and pooled odds ratio, hazard ratio, and 95% confidence interval were calculated to determine the relationship between MCL-1 levels and clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with cancer. When heterogeneity was found to be significant, a random effects model was used, otherwise, a fixed effects model was used.

Results

Twelve articles were included in this meta-analysis, totaling 2208 patients with cancer across 14 studies. A high MCL-1 expression level was associated with patients with high T stage, M stage, and TNM stage in some cancers. Additionally, high MCL-1 expression was likely to be observed in patients with poorly differentiated digestive system tumors and patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Notably, a higher expression of MCL-1 was found to be associated with shorter overall survival in patients with hematological tumors, digestive system tumors, and lung cancer.

Conclusion

MCL-1 may be a prognostic biomarker in patients with some types of cancer.

KEYWORDS:

• Myeloma cell leukemia-1
• cancer
• prognosis
• biomarker
• meta-analysis

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Bullet Edits Limited for the linguistic editing and proofreading of the manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Author contribution statement

Jianrong Wang and Yu He conceived and designed the study, acquired and analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. Chao Yang, Qiurui Luo and Bingchi Wang contributed to data analysis and manuscript preparation. All authors read and approved the manuscript and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the research in ensuring that the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work is appropriately investigated and resolved.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/14737140.2023.2238900

Additional information

Funding

This paper received no funding.