OBJECTIVE The relationship between higher levels of B7-H4 expression and death risk of cancer patients remains to be clarified. In the current study, information from an ordinary scale and those from several outcome scales were combined to make a single estimate. PubMed databases were searched for survival studies on the hazard ratios （HR） of malignant tumors associated with higher B7-H4 expression from 1999 to 2010. METHODS The fixed effect model was used to estimate the combined HRs of six studies. Sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the stability. Publication bias was also estimated. Six studies that meet the inclusion criteria were identified; these studies reported the associations between the higher B7-H4 expression and death risk of cancer patients. RESULTS A 42% increase in death risk was observed in patients with higher B7-H4 expression （HR = 1.42; 95% confidence interval： 1.16-1.72）. Sensitivity analyses found the results robust. The analysis shows that higher levels of B7-H4 expression are associated with the death risk of patients suffering from various cancers. CONCLUSION B7-H4 may be a negative regulatory molecule for antitumor immune responses and a molecular target for tumor immunotherapy.
OBJECTIVE To reevaluate the effect of tobacco smoking on therisk of developing gastric cancer among the Chinese population.METHODS Thirty articles from the literature both in Chineseand English from January,1988 to present were identified andfrom which adjusted odd ratios(ORs)or relative risks(RRs)werecombined by meta-analysis.Generalized least squares(GLS)fortrend estimation of summarized dose-response data was carriedout.All the analyses were performed using software of STATAversion 10.0.RESULTS Comparing current smokers with subjects who havenever smoked,the summary effect values on gastric cancer witha 95% confidence interval(CI)were 1.67(1.43-1.96)for case-control studies and 1.52(1.17-1.96)for cohort studies,respectively.The combined effect values with a 95%CI for the comparison ofsmoking quantity of current smokers with the referent groupwere 1.41(1.15-1.72)for case-control studies and 1.24(1.02-1.52)for cohort studies,respectively.The combined effect values witha 95%CI for the comparison of accumulative years smoked ofcurrent smokers with the referent group were 1.07(0.89-1.28)for case-control studies and 1.28(0.95-1.74)for cohort studies,respectively.Dose-response meta-analysis showed that the gastriccancer risk will increase 50%(OR=1.50,95%CI:1.34-1.67)witheach 20 cigarette per day increment and increase 14%(OR=1.14,95%CI:1.10-1.18)with each 10 year increment of smoking.CONCLUSION The gastric cancer risk among the Chinesepopulation is significantly associated with tobacco smoking andthe smoking quantity per day.Smoking cessation should be morestrongly advocated.
Na LiuYueping ShenLiqiang QinTianfeng HeYinmei Liu
