Objective: The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the association between cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2) expression and skin cancer.
Materials and methods: We searched the databases of PubMed, CNKI, and WANFANG to find the case-control studies associated with Cox-2 expression and skin cancer. The association between Cox-2 expression and skin cancer was demonstrated by odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The publication bias was evaluated by funnel plot and Egger's line regression test. All the statistical analyses were done by Stata10.0 software (Stata Corporation, College Station, TX, USA).
Results: Ten studies were included in this meta-analysis. Without significant statistical heterogeneity, the data were pooled by fixed-effect model. Ten case-control studies were included in this meta-analysis. The combined results showed a close correlation between Cox-2 expression and skin cancer (OR = 25.00, 95% CI: 13.40-46.64, P < 0.05) with fixed-effect model. Subgroup analysis also indicated that Cox-2 expression was significantly correlated with skin cancer with the pathology type of squamous cell carcinoma (OR = 31.95, 95% CI: 15.08-67.72, P < 0.05) and basal cell carcinoma (OR = 14.69, 95% CI: 4.80-44.94, P < 0.05). Funnel plot and Egger's line regression test indicated no publication bias.
Conclusion: According to the present published data, Cox-2 expression was closely correlated to skin cancer.