Prognostic value of high mobility group protein A2 (HMGA2) over-expression in cancer progression

The high mobility group A2 (HMGA2; also called HMGI-C) gene is an architectural transcription factor that belonging to the high mobility group AT-hook (HMGA) gene family. HMGA2 is aberrantly regulated in several human tumors. Over-expression of HMGA2 is correlated with a higher risk of metastasis and an unfavorable prognosis in patients with cancer. We performed a meta-analysis to determine the clinic-pathological and prognostic value of HMGA2 overexpression in different human tumors. A comprehensive literature search was performed using PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus, MEDLINE, Google Scholar and ISI Web of Science. Hazard ratios (HRs)/odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of the association between HMGA2 expression and overall survival (OS)/progression free survival (PFS)/disease free survival (DFS). A total of 5319 patients with 19 different types of cancer from 35 articles were evaluated. Pooled data analysis indicated that increased HMGA2 expression in cancer patients predicted a poor OS (HR = 1.70; 95% CI = 1.6–1.81; P