Association between CDH1 methylation and esophageal cancer risk: a meta-analysis and bioinformatics study

Objective The aim is to evaluate the association of CDH1 methylation with esophageal cancer (EC) risk.Methods The PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases were systematically searched to identify relevant articles. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated using the fixed- or random-effects models. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were calculated to assess the diagnostic value of CDH1 methylation for EC. The results of the meta-analysis were validated using The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus databases.Results Thirteen studies consisting of 1,633 samples were included. A high CDH1 methylation was significantly associated with an increased risk of EC (OR = 10.40, 95% CI = 6.29–17.18). Furthermore, CDH1 methylation status was related to tumor status, lymph node status, and metastasis. For the diagnosis of EC, the pooled sensitivity and specificity of CDH1 methylation were 0.57 (95% CI = 0.39–0.74) and 0.89 (95% CI = 0.81–0.94), respectively. Bioinformatics analysis showed that CDH1 methylation occurred more frequently in EC tissues than in normal controls, in good agreement with the results of the meta-analysis.Conclusion A significant association was found between CDH1 methylation and EC risk. We therefore suggest that CDH1 methylation can serve as a promising diagnostic marker for EC.