Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management (Jul 2018)

Prognostic role of Toll-like receptors in cancer: a meta-analysis

  • Wang Q,
  • Zhang X,
  • Xiao T,
  • Pan C,
  • Liu X,
  • Zhao Y

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 14
pp. 1323 – 1330

Abstract

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Qingwen Wang,1 Xiankai Zhang,1 Tingting Xiao,2 Chenhua Pan,1 Xing Liu,3,4 Yulan Zhao1 1Department of Physiology, School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Botany, School of Life Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Central Laboratory Medicine, Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 4Shanghai Biochip Corporation Ltd./National Engineering Center for Biochip at Shanghai, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China Background: Recent studies have shown that Toll-like receptors (TLRs) may be associated with cancers. The aim of this meta-analysis is to summarize the predicting role of TLRs for survival in patients with a variety of carcinomas. Materials and methods: Eligible studies were identified and assessed for quality through multiple search strategies. We collected data from studies investigating the relationship between the expression level of TLRs and survival in cancer patients. Studies were pooled and combined hazard ratios (HRs) of TLRs for survival were analyzed. Results: A total of 24 studies, including 2,812 patients with various cancers, were identified for the meta-analysis. Importantly, this meta-analysis showed that higher expression levels of TLR4 or TLR7 in tumor tissues could predict poorer survival, with the pooled HR being 1.29 (95% CI: 1.17, 1.42) and 1.71 (95% CI: 1.38, 2.12), respectively. However, higher expression of TLR9 had no significant association with outcome as HR was 0.84 (95% CI: 0.62, 1.115). Heterogeneity existed in TLR4 and TLR9 studies (P-value <0.001) but not in TLR7 studies (P-value >0.05). Conclusion: The expression level of TLR4 or TLR7 in cancerous tissue may have a prognosis value in patients with various cancers. Keywords: Toll-like receptors, cancers, prognosis

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