Evidence from a meta-analysis for the prognostic and clinicopathological importance of DKC1 in malignancies

Abstract

Aim: We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the prognostic and clinicopathological relevance of DKC1 in various cancers. Methods: We searched Web of Science, Embase, PubMed, Wanfang and CNKI. Stata SE15.1 was used to calculate the hazard ratio and relative risk with 95% CIs to assess the possible correlations between DKC1 expression levels and overall and disease-free survival, as well as with clinicopathological parameters. Results: We included nine studies, with a total of 2574 patients. There was a meaningful link between elevated DKC1 and poorer disease-free (p < 0.001) and overall survival (p < 0.001). Also, it was linked to advanced tumor node metastasis stage (p = 0.005). Conclusion: High DKC1 expression was predictive of worse prognosis and poorer clinicopathological parameters.

Plain language summary

What is this summary about?

This brief summary reports the effects of high or low levels of a gene expression product called DKC1 on survival time and clinicopathological parameters in a small group of people with cancer. The DKC1 gene encodes a protein, DKC1, that is important for cancer cell proliferation. We systematically reviewed nine studies involving 2574 patients.

What was the result?

In this research, we revealed that people with cancer who had poor DKC1 expression had considerably longer survival without disease and better overall survival. In addition, the increased expression of DKC1 was linked to late-stage cancers.

What do these results mean?

The study has shown encouraging results, suggesting that DKC1 is a promising target for cancer therapy, as targeting it may hinder its ability to impair ribosome production and normal telomerase complex function to prolong patient life and prevent progression to a later disease stage. These studies demonstrate the need for more studies involving more people to definitively confirm how effective targeting DKC1 may be in treating cancer patients.

Keywords::

• biomarkers
• cancer
• DKC1
• meta-analysis
• prognosis

Supplementary data

To view the supplementary data that accompany this paper please visit the journal website at: www.futuremedicine.com/doi/suppl/10.2217/fon-2022-1125

Author contributions

Z Zou was responsible for the overall design of the experiment. Q Zhang and X Liu worked on data extraction and article theme writing. B Zhou was responsible for checking the rationality and continuity of the article and providing technical guidance.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 81860420), the Youth Foundation project of the Jiangxi Provincial Science and Technology Department (no. 20192BAB215031) and Jiangxi Province Department of Education (GJJ180141). The authors have no other 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 apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 81860420), the Youth Foundation project of the Jiangxi Provincial Science and Technology Department (no. 20192BAB215031) and Jiangxi Province Department of Education (GJJ180141). The authors have no other 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 apart from those disclosed.