Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background
Natural killer (NK) cells play major roles in eliminating tumor cells. Preliminary studies have shown that NK cells and their receptors/ligands have prognostic value in malignant tumors. However, the relevance of NK cells and their receptors/ligands level to the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear.Methods
Several electronic databases were searched from database inception to November 8, 2021. Random effects were introduced to this meta-analysis. The relevance of NK cells and their receptors/ligands level to the prognosis of HCC was evaluated using hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI).Results
26 studies were included in the analysis. The pooled results showed that high NK cells levels were associated with better overall survival (HR=0.70, 95%CI 0.57-0.86, P=0.001) and disease-free survival (HR=0.61, 95%CI 0.40-0.93, P=0.022) of HCC patients. In subgroup analysis for overall survival, CD57+ NK cells (HR=0.70, 95%CI 0.55-0.89, P=0.004) had better prognostic value over CD56+ NK cells (HR=0.69, 95%CI 0.38-1.25, P=0.224), and intratumor NK cells had better prognostic value (HR=0.71, 95%CI 0.55-0.90, P=0.005) over peripheral NK cells (HR=0.66, 95%CI 0.41-1.06, P=0.088). In addition, high level of NK cell inhibitory receptors predicted increased recurrence of HCC, while the prognostic role of NK cell activating receptors remained unclear.Conclusion
NK cells and their inhibitory receptors have prognostic value for HCC. The prognostic role of NK cell activating receptors is unclear and more high-quality prospective studies are essential to evaluate the prognostic value of NK cells and their receptors/ligands for HCC.
SUBMITTER: Xue JS
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9021421 | biostudies-literature | 2022
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Xue Jun-Shuai JS Ding Zi-Niu ZN Meng Guang-Xiao GX Yan Lun-Jie LJ Liu Hui H Li Hai-Chao HC Yao Sheng-Yu SY Tian Bao-Wen BW Dong Zhao-Ru ZR Chen Zhi-Qiang ZQ Hong Jian-Guo JG Wang Dong-Xu DX Li Tao T
Frontiers in immunology 20220407
<h4>Background</h4>Natural killer (NK) cells play major roles in eliminating tumor cells. Preliminary studies have shown that NK cells and their receptors/ligands have prognostic value in malignant tumors. However, the relevance of NK cells and their receptors/ligands level to the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear.<h4>Methods</h4>Several electronic databases were searched from database inception to November 8, 2021. Random effects were introduced to this meta-analysis. ...[more]