Matrix metalloproteinase 2 expression and disease-free survival of patients with osteosarcoma: a meta-analysis.

Abstract. Numerous studies indicate the influence of matrix metallopro-teinase-2 (MMP-2) overexpression in osteosarcoma (OS) outcomes. A previous study has systematically analyzed the correlation between MMP-2 expression and the prognosis of OS. However, the results of subsequent studies remain in-consistent. Therefore, a meta-analysis in terms of the prognostic value of MMP-2 expression in OS was conducted. We employed the Newcastle-Ottawa scale (NOS) to evaluate the quality of the studies. Five studies involving 284 patients were included. The relative risk (RR) with a corresponding 95% confidence in-terval (95%CI) was calculated to appraise the predictive value of MMP-2 positive expression for OS recurrence and metastasis, and lower disease-free survival.It was indicated by the results that MMP-2 positive individuals with OS had higher recurrence and metastasis rates than negative individuals (RR=1.85, 95%CI:1.16-2.93, p<0.01). Sensitivity analysis showed that the combined RR was stable. There was no significant change, independently of whichever article was excluded.