Introduction: Trophoblast cell surface antigen 2 (TROP2) has been linked to disease prognosis in various human cancers and plays a critical role in tumor development, progression, and metastasis. A number of relevant studies have been published on this topic. A meta-analysis of the latest literature to evaluate the value of TROP2 as a predictive prognosticator of cancer was performed.
Methods: Several online databases were searched, and relevant articles were retrieved. Overall and subcategory meta-analyses were performed, and results were collated.
Results: Twenty-seven articles, including 29 studies, were included, involving 4,852 cancer patients, and results showed that the above-baseline expression of TROP2 was significantly associated with poorer overall survival (OS) (pooled hazard ratio [HR]: 1.84, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.45-2.35), disease-free survival (DFS) (pooled HR: 2.77, 95% CI: 1.73-4.42), and progression-free survival (PFS) (pooled HR: 1.71, 95% CI: 1.25-2.35). The following clinical characteristics were also significantly linked with TROP2 overexpression: moderate/poor differentiation (pooled HR: 3.03, 95% CI: 1.99-4.63), distant metastasis (pooled HR: 2.46, 95% CI: 1.05-5.75), lymph node metastasis (pooled HR: 2.47, 95%: CI 1.72-3.56), and advanced TNM stage (pooled HR: 2.02, 95% CI: 1.38-2.95).
Conclusion: TROP2 overexpression was predictive of poor prognosis in human cancers and may be an independent prognostic predictive biomarker. Further studies should be performed to confirm the significance of TROP2 in clinical practice.
Keywords: TROP2; carcinomas; meta-analysis; prognosis.