Prognostic value of autophagy marker LC3 in esophageal cancer: a meta-analysis

Objective: Autophagy played an important role in the carcinogenesis of esophageal cancer, and LC3 was a popular marker of autophagy. However, the association between LC3 and prognosis of esophageal cancer was controversial. We conducted this meta-analysis to systemically assess the prognostic value of LC3 in esophageal cancer. Materials and methods: Literature searches were performed in Embase and PubMed databases for eligible studies before June 30, 2016. Hazard ratio (HR) was pooled to assess the association of LC3 with overall survival (OS). Odds ratio (OR) was pooled to evaluate the correlation between LC3 and clinicopathological characteristics. Results: A total of six studies involving 775 patients were included for meta-analysis. The pooled result showed that the high LC3 level was significantly correlated with worse OS of esophageal cancer (HR=1.33, 95% CI 1.05-1.68; P=0.018). There was no correlation between LC3 and tumor grade (OR=0.96, 95% CI 0.68-1.36; P=0.822), lymph node involvement (OR=0.99, 95% CI 0.71-1.38; P=0.959) or TNM stage (OR=0.70, 95% CI 0.43-1.13; P=0.142). Conclusion: High LC3 level was correlated with worse prognosis of esophageal cancer, and LC3 might act as a promising autophagy-related prognostic marker of esophageal cancer.