Clinicopathological and prognostic role of CEP55 expression in cancer patients: A meta‐analysis of 31 studies with 12,543 patients

Abstract Background Dysregulated expression of centrosomal protein 55 (CEP55) has been detected in multiple types of cancers. However, the clinical value of CEP55 expression in cancer is controversial. The current meta‐analysis quantitatively investigated the association between CEP55 expression and prognostic outcomes in cancers. Methods A literature search was performed using the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang databases, Web of Science, Embase, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Cochrane Library for primary studies. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) were used to investigate the association between CEP55 expression and its prognostic and clinicopathological value in cancers. Results A total of 12,543 patients from 31 studies were included in this meta‐analysis. High CEP55 expression was significantly associated with poor differentiation, deeper tumor invasion and increased lymph node metastasis in cancer patients. The pooled results indicated that elevated CEP55 expression can predict a poor overall survival (OS) and disease‐free survival (DFS) in cancers. These results should be interpreted with caution because of publication bias. However, the pooled HR for OS of lung cancers was 1.50 (95% CI = 1.36–1.67, p < 0.01) with no heterogeneity and publication bias. Conclusions CEP55 overexpression correlated with poor cancer differentiation, deeper tumor invasion, and increased lymph node metastasis, suggesting that CEP55 may serve as a predictive and prognostic biomarker for cancers, especially for lung cancers.