Prognostic and clinicopathological significance of CTTN/cortactin alterations in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: To evaluate the prognostic significance of CTTN/cortactin alterations in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Material and methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus for studies published before May 2018. We conducted a meta-analysis to quantify the impact of CTTN/cortactin alterations on clinicopathological and survival variables.

Results: Eighteen studies (1633 patients) met inclusion criteria. Quantitative evaluation revealed a strong association of CTTN/cortactin alterations with N+ status (P < .001), higher T status (P < .001), advanced clinical stage (P < .001), high histological grade (P = .001), and lower overall survival (OS) (P < .001). We found heterogeneity in T status, histological grade, and OS and observed small-study effects on N status and OS. In subgroup analyses, a significant association of CTTN amplification and cortactin overexpression with the above variables was preserved. The strongest association between CTTN/cortactin alterations and a worse outcome was observed in the subgroups of Asian patients and pharyngolaryngeal squamous cell carcinomas.

Conclusions: CTTN/cortactin alterations should be evaluated to predict the HNSCC prognosis.