Prognostic Value of Tumor-Infiltrating FoxP3+ T Cells in Gastrointestinal Cancers: A Meta Analysis

PURPOSE Tumor-infiltrating FoxP3+ T cells have been reported in various human tumors, which impaired cell-mediated immunity and promoted disease progression. However, its prognostic value for survival in patients with different gastrointestinal cancers [hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), colorectal cancer (CRC), gastric cancer (GC)] remains controversial. METHODS Relevant literature was searched using PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Ovid Medline and Chinese wanfang databases. A meta-analysis was conducted to estimate pooled survival and recurrence ratios. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated employing fixed- or random-effects models depending on the heterogeneity of the included trials. RESULTS For HCC and GC, the overall survival at 1, 3 and 5-year of high FoxP3+ T cells infiltration patients were lower than low FoxP3+ T cells infiltration patients (P<0.05). The recurrences at 1, 3 and 5-year of high FoxP3+ T cells infiltration patients were higher than low FoxP3+ T cells infiltration patients (P<0.001). But for CRC, the overall survival at 1, 3 and 5-year of high FoxP3+ T cells infiltration patients were higher than low FoxP3+ T cells infiltration patients (P<0.001). There were no differences in 1, 3 and 5-year recurrences between high and low FoxP3+ T cells infiltration patients (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggested that tumor-infiltrating FoxP3+ T cells were a factor for a poor prognosis for HCC and GC, but a good prognosis for CRC.