Prognostic significance of TP53 expression for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Various studies evaluated the relationship between p53 expression and the clinical outcome in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but yielded conflicting results. METHODS: Electronic databases updated to Dec 2013 were searched to find relevant studies. A meta-analysis was conducted with eligible studies which quantitatively evaluated the relationship between p53 expression and survival of patients with HCC. Survival data were aggregated and quantitatively analyzed. RESULTS: We performed a meta-analysis of 24 studies that evaluated the correlation between p53 expression and survival in patients with HCC. Combined hazard ratios (HRs) suggested that p53 expression had an unfavorable impact on overall survival (OS) [HR =1.64, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.40-1.85], and disease free survival (DFS) (HR =1.57, 95% CI: 1.26-1.87) in patients with HCC. CONCLUSIONS: p53 expression indicates a poor prognosis for patients with HCC.