The Prognostic Role of mTOR and P-mTOR for Survival in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

ObjectivesThe mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and phosphorylated mTOR (p-mTOR) are potential prognostic markers and therapeutic targets for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the association between mTOR/p-mTOR expression and NSCLC patients’ prognosis remains controversial. Thus, a meta-analysis of existing studies evaluating the prognostic role of mTOR/p-mTOR expression for NSCLC was conducted.Materials and MethodsA systemically literature search was performed via Pubmed, Embase, Medline as well as CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure). Studies were included that reported the hazard ratio (HR) and 95%CI for the association between mTOR/p-mTOR expression and NSCLC patients’ survival. Random-effects model was used to pool HRs.ResultsTen eligible studies were included in this meta-analysis, with 4 about m-TOR and 7 about p-mTOR. For mTOR, the pooled HR of overall survival (OS) was 1.00 (95%CI 0.5 to 1.99) by univariate analysis and 1.22 (95%CI 0.53 to 2.82) by multivariate analysis. For p-mTOR, the pooled HR was 1.39 (95%CI 0.97 to 1.98) by univariate analysis and 1.42 (95%CI 0.56 to 3.60) by multivariate analysis.ConclusionThe results indicated that no statistically significant association was found between mTOR/p-mTOR expression and NSCLC patients’ prognosis.