Nuclear expression and/or reduced membranousexpression of beta-catenin correlate with poor prognosis in colorectal carcinoma: A meta-analysis (vol 95, e5546, 2016)

Background: The differential subcellular localizations of beta-catenin (including membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus) play different roles in the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the correlation between each subcellular localization of beta-catenin and the prognosis of CRC patients remains undetermined. Methods: Systematic strategies were applied to search for eligible published studies in the PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases. The correlation between each subcellular localizations of beta-catenin expression and patients' clinicopathological features or prognosis was analyzed. Results: Finally, this meta-analysis, including 6238 cases from 34 studies, revealed that beta-catenin overexpression in the nucleus (HR: 1.50[95% CI: 1.08-2.10]) or reduced expression of beta-catenin in the membrane (HR: 1.33[95% CI: 1.15-1.54]) significantly correlated with lower 5-year overall survival (OS). Conversely, overexpression of beta-catenin in the cytoplasm (HR: 1.00[95% CI: 0.85-1.18]) did not show significant association with 5-year OS. Conclusion: This study suggested that beta-catenin overexpression in the nucleus or reduced expression in the membrane, but not its overexpression in cytoplasm, could serve as a valuable prognostic predictor for CRC. However, additional large and well-designed prospective studies are required to verify our results.