The Prognostic Role of the Class III β-Tubulin in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Patients Receiving the Taxane/Vinorebine-Based Chemotherapy: A Meta-Analysis

BackgroundA number of studies have examined the relationship between the expression of the class III β-tubulin (TUBB3) and the treatment responses to the taxane/vinorebine-based chemotherapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the results of these studies were inconsistent and inconclusive. Therefore, we conducted an up-to-date meta-analysis to evaluate the prognostic role of TUBB3 in the taxane/vinorebine-based chemotherapy.MethodsA literature search for relevant studies was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and CNKI. The inclusion criteria were the taxane/vinorebine-based chemotherapy in patients with NSCLC and the evaluation of the clinical outcomes in relation to the expression of TUBB3. The clinical outcomes analyzed in this study included the overall response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), and event-free survival (EFS). Odds ratio (OR) or hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to assess the risk associated with the TUBB3 expression in the taxane/vinorebine-based chemotherapy.ResultsA total of 28 studies with 2401 NSCLC patients were qualified for this meta-analysis. We found that the positive or high level of TUBB3 expression was associated with a poorer ORR (OR = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.16–0.36, pppConclusionsThe expression level of TUBB3 may be a useful biomarker to predict the clinical outcomes of the taxane/vinorebine-based chemotherapy in patients with NSCLC.

研究背景：已有多项研究探讨了Ⅲ类β微管蛋白（class III β-tubulin, TUBB3）的表达与非小细胞肺癌（non-small cell lung cancer, NSCLC）患者接受紫杉烷类（taxane）联合长春瑞滨（vinorebine）方案化疗的疗效之间的关联，但此类研究的结果并不一致，尚无定论。为此，本研究开展了一项最新的荟萃分析，以评估TUBB3在该化疗方案中的预后价值。

研究方法：本研究通过PubMed、Embase及中国知网（CNKI）数据库检索相关文献。纳入标准为：研究对象为接受紫杉烷类联合长春瑞滨方案化疗的非小细胞肺癌患者，且分析了TUBB3表达水平与临床结局的相关性。本研究分析的临床结局指标包括客观缓解率（overall response rate, ORR）、总生存期（overall survival, OS）及无事件生存期（event-free survival, EFS）。本研究通过计算比值比（odds ratio, OR）或风险比（hazard ratio, HR）及其95%置信区间（confidence interval, CI），评估TUBB3表达水平与该化疗方案疗效的相关性风险。

研究结果：本荟萃分析最终纳入28项研究，共计2401例非小细胞肺癌患者。结果显示，TUBB3阳性或高表达与较差的客观缓解率相关（OR=0.24，95%CI=0.16~0.36，p<0.001），同时也与更差的总生存期相关（HR=1.34，95%CI=1.17~1.54，p<0.001）。

研究结论：TUBB3的表达水平可作为预测非小细胞肺癌患者接受紫杉烷类联合长春瑞滨方案化疗临床结局的潜在生物标志物。