Higher expression of SALL4 predicts poor cancer prognosis: A meta-analysis

Sal-like protein 4 (SALL4) is recognized as a potential biomarker for assessing cancer prognosis. Many experiments have been done to explore the aberrant expression of SALL4 in cancer patients.To explore the association between SALL4 expression and cancer prognosis.A systematically comprehensive search was performed through PubMed, Web of Science, and CNKI. The prognostic value of SALL4 expression in cancer patients was evaluated by pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).The overexpression of SALL4 was identified to be significantly associated with a poor prognosis in cancer patients (pooled HR: 2.02, 95% CI: 1.67-2.46). This association was also detected in digestive system neoplasms subgroup (pooled HR: 1.91, 95% CI: 1.52-2.39) and reproductive system neoplasms subgroup (pooled HR: 1.95, 95% CI: 1.17-3.26). In the geography subgroup analysis, a statistical association was confirmed in the Chinese subgroup (pooled HR: 1.982, 95% CI: 1.526-2.576). In the respect of disease progression, there was a certain degree of relationship between higher expression of SALL4 and recurrence-free survival (RFS) (pooled HR: 1.617, 95% CI: 1.190-2.196).SALL4 is a promising prognostic biomarker for cancer, and is appropriate for the assessment of cancer prognosis in the Chinese people.