Prognostic significance of circulating tumor cells in esophageal carcinoma: a meta-analysis

Guang-Lei Qiao,1 Wei-Xiang Qi,2 Wei-Hua Jiang,1 Ying Chen,1 Li-Jun Ma1 1Department of Oncology, Tongren Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 2Department of Radiation Oncology, Shanghai Proton and Heavy Ion Center, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China Purpose: The prognostic significance of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in esophageal carcinoma (EC) is controversial. We aim to assess its association with clinicopathological and prognostic relevance in EC by using a meta-analysis.Methods: We searched PubMed, Cochrane Database, Embase databases, and the references in relevant studies that assessed the clinicopathological or prognostic relevance of CTCs in peripheral blood of patients with EC. Statistical analyses were conducted by using Stata software to calculate the pooled odds ratio (OR), hazard ratio (HR), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using fixed or random-effects models according to the heterogeneity of included studies. The subgroup analyses were performed according to ethnicity, histological type, and detection method.Results:Sixteen trials containing 1,260 patients were included for analysis. Pooled results showed that presence of CTCs was significantly associated with poor overall survival (HR=1.71, 95% CI [1.30, 2.12],P