Prognostic value of HER-2/neu expression in epithelial ovarian cancer: a meta-analysis

Various studies examined the relationship between human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2/neu) overexpression and the clinical outcome in patients with ovarian cancer, but yielded conflicting results. Electronic databases updated in May 2013 were searched to find relevant studies. A meta-analysis was conducted with eligible studies which quantitatively evaluated the relationship between HER-2/neu overexpression and survival of patients with ovarian cancer. Survival data were aggregated and quantitatively analyzed. We conducted a final analysis of 3,055 patients from 20 eligible studies and evaluated the correlation between HER-2/neu overexpression and survival in patients with ovarian cancer. Combined hazard ratios suggested that HER-2/neu overexpression was not associated with a significant impact on survival, with the hazard ratio (HR) and 95 % confidence interval (CI) being 1.05 and 0.92-1.19, respectively, overall. When grouped according to the study design type, a statistically significant combined HR was found in retrospective studies (HR = 1.44, 95 % CI 1.14-1.75) and no statistically significant combined HR was found (HR = 0.96, 95 % CI 0.81-1.11) for prospective studies. HER-2/neu overexpression seems to have no significant impact on survival of ovarian cancer patients. However, a statistically significant combined HR was found in retrospective studies, but not in prospective studies.