Clinicopathological significance of epidermal growth factor receptor expression in papillary thyroid carcinoma: a meta-analysis

Introduction This study aimed to determine the relationship between the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and pathological indicators in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Evidence acquisition PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, MEDLINE, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for relevant clinical trials. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) showed the effect magnitude of the expression of EGFR, age, gender, tumor size, lymph node metastasis (LNM), extrathyroid extension(ETE), and TNM(Tumor, Lymph node, Metastasis) stage. Stata 12.0 was used for statistical analysis of data. Evidence synthesis A total of 845 cases of PTC were included through the retrieval of 8 studies performed abroad. EGFR significantly correlated with extrathyroid extension (OR = 3.25; 95% CI: 1.25-8.43; Z = 2.42; P = 0.015), LNM (OR = 8.40; 95% CI: 5.44-12.97; Z = 9.61; P = 0.000), and TNM stage (OR = 2.30, 95% CI: 1.51-3.51; Z = 3.87; P= 0.000). EGFR had no correlation with age (OR =1.13; 95% CI: 0.83-1.53; Z = 0.77; P = 0.44], gender (OR = 0.93; 95% CI: 0.66-1.33; Z = 0.38; P = 0.70), and tumor size (OR = 1.68; 95% CI: 1.06-2.68; Z = 2.19; P = 0.03). Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the studies by Cui Tang and Alfred King Yin Lam in LNM impacted the pooled OR. After removing these two studies, relatively stable results between the expression of EGFR and LNM were obtained. Conclusions The results in the expression of EGFR is frequent and cancer-specific event in PTC. Besides, the expression of EGFR was involved in the progression and metastasis of PTC.