Prognostic significance of c-Met in breast cancer: a meta-analysis of 6010 cases

Background: The prognostic value of c-Met in breast cancer remains controversial. A meta-analysis of the impact of c-Met in breast cancer was performed by searching published data. Methods: Published studies analyzing overall survival (OS) or relapse free survival (RFS) according to c-Met expression were searched. The principal outcome measures were hazard ratios (HRs) for RFS or OS according to c-Met expression. Combined HRs were calculated using fixed-or random-effects models according to the heterogeneity. Results: Twenty-one studies involving 6,010 patients met our selection criteria. The impact of c-Met on RFS and OS was investigated in 12 and 17 studies, respectively. The meta-analysis results showed that c-Met overexpression significantly predicted poor RFS and OS in unselected breast cancer. Subgroup analysis indicated that c-Met overexpression was correlated with poor RFS and OS in Western patients, but was not associated with RFS or OS in Asian patients. C-Met was associated with poor OS in lymph node negative breast cancer and with poor RFS in hormone-receptor positive and triple negative breast cancer, but was not associated with prognosis in human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)-2 positive breast cancer. Conclusions: C-Met overexpression is an adverse prognostic marker in breast cancer, except among Asian and HER-2 positive patients.