Academic Editor: Alessandro Poggi
Background: Protein tyrosine kinase 6 (PTK6) plays an important role in
cell proliferation and differentiation. However, the functions of PTK6 appear
highly context-dependent and differ depending on the cell type, as well as its
intracellular localization. High PTK6 expression in tumor has been associated
with poor pathological features and prognosis in some studies, but other studies
have reported opposite results. Therefore, we performed this meta-analysis to
derive more precise estimations of the association of PTK6 expression with
prognosis and clinicopathological features in cancer patients. Methods:
We conducted a literature search in PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and MEDLINE databases
to cover all articles published until June 2021. All 1475 patients from the
eight studies were included in the meta-analysis. Because of heterogeneity in
PTK6 expression in non-tumor tissues, the included studies were divided into two
subgroups according to PTK expression in non-tumor tissues: the low expression
subgroup (LESG) or high expression subgroup (HESG). Results: Patients
with high PTK expression showed significantly worse overall survival (OS) in LESG
(Hazard Ratio (HR) = 2.53 [95% Confidence Interval (CI), 1.68–3.83], p