Prognostic role of plasma mammaglobin A expression in breast carcinoma patients: a meta-analysis

Mammaglobin A expression in peripheral blood (PB) of breast carcinoma patients has been evaluated by various studies, but the findings have been inconsistent. This meta-analysis aimed to clarify the prognostic value of mammaglobin A in the PB of breast carcinoma patients and define its relationships with clinicopathological features. PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library databases were systematically searched for eligible studies through September 26, 2017. A total of 20 studies involving 2,323 patients were analyzed, and the data were independently extracted by two researchers. The combined hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% CI was used to assess the association between survival data and plasma mammaglobin A expression, and odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs were used to assess the associations between clinicopathological parameters and plasma mammaglobin A expression. The results indicated that plasma mammaglobin A expression was a predictor of poor prognosis for breast carcinoma patients, with an HR of 2.08 (95% CI=1.48-2.91; P<0.0001) for overall survival. Moreover, plasma mammaglobin A was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis (OR=2.00; 95% CI=1.17-3.45; P=0.01) and advanced tumor stage (OR=3.01; 95% CI=1.57-5.77; P=0.0009) in breast carcinoma patients. However, the results revealed that plasma mammaglobin A was not significantly associated with tumor size (OR=1.29; 95% CI=0.46-3.66; P=0.63), tumor differentiation (OR=0.99; 95% CI=0.63-1.57; P=0.97), menopausal status (OR=0.75; 95% CI=0.48-1.18; P=0.22), estrogen receptor status (OR=0.78; 95% CI=0.44-1.36; P=0.38), progesterone receptor status (OR=0.76; 95% CI=0.57-1.02; P=0.07), or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status (OR=1.12; 95% CI=0.78-1.59; P=0.54). In conclusion, the results demonstrate that positive plasma mammaglobin A expression might serve as a biomarker of poor prognosis for breast carcinoma patients.