Association between HER-2 over-expression and prognosis in human osteosarcoma: a meta-analysis

Objective Various studies examining the relationship between HER-2 over-expression and the response to chemotherapy and clinical outcome in patients with osteosarcoma have yielded inconclusive results. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the relation of HER-2 status with the response to chemotherapy and clinical outcome in osteosarcoma. Methods We conducted a meta-analysis of 6 studies that evaluated the correlation between HER-2 status and histologic response to chemotherapy and 2-year survival. Data were synthesized in summary receiver operating characteristic curves and with summary likelihood ratios (LRs) and relative risk. Results The quantitative synthesis showed that HER-2 status is not a prognostic factor for the response to chemotherapy. The positive LR was 1.27 (95% confidence interval, 0.91∼1.77), and the negative LR was 0.68 (95% confidence interval, 0.38∼1.22). There was no significant between-study heterogeneity. HER2-positive status tended to be associated with a worse 2-year survival, but the overall results were not formally statistically significant. Conclusion HER-2 status is not associated with the histologic response to chemotherapy in patients with osteosarcoma, whereas HER-2 positive patients may be associated with decreased survival.