A meta-analysis evaluating the role of calcium channel alpha-2 delta-1 subunit in carcinogenesis

There is hardly found any study accumulating all the experiments reported with the expression of alpha-2 delta-1 (α2δ-1) in cancer cells. This meta-analysis aimed to advance our knowledge about the role of calcium channel alpha2 delta-1 subunit in carcinogenesis in the present time. PubMed searches for peer-reviewed articles were conducted using the keywords “α2δ-1 protein in oncogenesis”, “α2δ-1 protein expression in cancer cells”, and “α2δ-1 protein as cancer cell marker”. The databases were developed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Seventeen studies out of 80 citations met the inclusion criteria pertaining to α2δ-1 expression in different cancer cells. The cancer patterns were hepatocellular carcinoma in 41%, non-small cell lung carcinoma in 12% and laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma in 12%. The remaining studies included small-cell lung cancer (6%), gastric cancer (6%), pancreatic cancer (6%), hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (6%), breast cancer (6%) and glioblastoma multiforme (6%). α2δ-1+ cells had a higher sphere-forming and tumorigenic efficiency in 76.5% of experiments. 58.8% experiments explored mechanistically in self-renewal efficiency and tumorigenesis of α2δ-1+ cancer cells. The cancer cells expressing α2δ-1 have the potential to serve as cell surface markers for tumour-initiating cells and cancer stem cells. These intriguing findings open up a promising avenue for future research, focusing on the targeting of α2δ-1 as a potential therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment.