Prognostic value of IGF-1R expression in bone and soft tissue sarcomas: a meta-analysis

Junbo Liang,1,2 Binghao Li,3 Li Yuan,4 Zhaoming Ye3 1School of Clinical Medicine, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 2Department of Orthopedics, Taizhou Hospital, Taizhou, 3Department of Orthopaedics, Institute of Orthopaedic Research, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 4School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China Abstract: Accumulated evidence has indicated a correlation between IGF-1R and bone and soft tissue sarcoma (BSTS) progression. However, research on the prognostic role of IGF-1R in sarcomas has revealed very different or even totally opposite results. This meta-analysis aimed to unveil the controversial role IGF-1R plays in predicting the outcome of BSTS patients. We systematically reviewed the evidence for the effect of IGF-1R expression in multiple types of BSTSs, including osteosarcoma, Ewing’s sarcoma, synovial sarcoma, liposarcoma, and rhabdomyosarcoma, to elucidate this issue. The prognostic value of IGF-1R expression in BSTS patients was evaluated regarding overall survival, measured by pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Seven studies including 627 patients were enrolled in this meta-analysis. Our results demonstrated that IGF-1R expression was associated with poor outcome in terms of overall survival in BSTS patients (pooled HR =2.15, 95% CI: 1.06–4.38; P=0.03). In subtypes of BSTSs, elevated IGF-1R expression was revealed to be significantly correlated with worse prognosis in osteosarcoma (pooled HR =2.20, 95% CI: 1.59–0.03; P