Document Type : Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Authors
1
Department of Cardiology, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran.
2
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran.
3
Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran.
4
Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran.
Abstract
Background: Many types of cancer express the HER2/HER3 heterodimer, which is a crucial oncogenic unit. Research has shown that when these two biomarkers are expressed together, it correlates with higher tumor aggressiveness and lower overall survival rate. Therefore, many therapies have been developed to target both biomarkers simultaneously. This study aims to collect data on the co-expression levels of these biomarkers across different types of cancers. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science databases to identify relevant studies. The event rates and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Heterogeneity, subgroup, and meta-regression analyses were conducted based on patients’ residency region, age, and gender. The protocol of this study was registered in PROSPERO under ID: CRD42024504256. Results: We have detected 60 studies that met all of the inclusion criteria for our research. Out of these, we have focused on a total of 19 studies (with 6,079 participants) related to breast cancer, 9 studies (with 829 participants) related to lung cancer, 6 studies (with 1423 participants) related to gastric cancer, and 4 studies (with 802 participants) related to colorectal cancer for conducting our meta-analysis. According to our results, the co-expression rate of HER2 and HER3 in breast cancer patients is 18.5% (95%CI 11.7–27.9), in colorectal cancer patients is 17.1% (95%CI 2.4–63.4), in gastric cancer patients is 11.3% (95%CI 4.2–17.2), and in lung cancer patients is 12.7% (95%CI 5.2–22.8). The co-expression of HER2 and HER3 in lung cancer has a significant association with patients’ gender (P=0.038). Conclusion: The study found that HER2 and HER3 biomarkers, which are targets for different therapies, are co-expressed in various types of cancer.
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