Background: Gastric cancer is one of the frequently seen cancers in the world and it is the second most commonreason for death due to cancer. The prognostic role of expression of p53 detected by immunohistochemistry ingastric cancer remains controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to explore any association between overexpressionand survival outcomes. Materials and Methods: We systematically searched for studies investigating therelationships between expression of p53 detected by immunohistochemistry and prognosis of gastric cancerpatients. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. After careful review, survival datawere extracted from eligible studies. A meta-analysis was performed to generate combined hazard ratios foroverall survival and disease-free survival. Results: A total of 4.330 patients from 21 studies were included inthe analysis. Our results showed tissue p53 overexpression in patients with gastric cancer to be associated withpoor prognosis in terms of overall survival (HR, 1.610; 95% CI, 1.394 -5.235; p:<0.001). Pooled hazard ratiofor disease free survival showed that p53 positivity or negativity were not statitistically significant (HR, 1.219;95%CI, 0.782-1.899; p:0.382). Conclusions: The present meta-analysis indicated overexpression of p53 detectedby immunohistochemistry to be associated with a poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer.
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