Aim: Notch1 expression remains controversial on digestive tract cancers. This meta-analysis was performed to assess the clinicopathological significance of Notch1 expression in individuals with digestive tract cancers, mainly involving esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), gastric cancer (GC), pancreatic cancer (PC) and colorectal cancer (CRC).
Methods: Available articles were searched from the online databases, and the meta-analysis was done using Review Manager software 5.3.
Results: 35 studies were included in this analysis (6187 samples). Notch1 is downregulated in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (p < 0.00001), Notch1 expression at high levels was detected in GC (p = 0.02) and CRC (p < 0.001), and no significant difference exists between PC and normal tissue (p = 0.76).
Conclusion: Notch1 overexpression in GC and CRC suggested aggressive biological behaviors, and Notch1 may be a biomarker in digestive tract cancers.
Keywords: Notch 1; digestive tract cancer; esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; gastric cancer; meta-analysis; pancreatic cancer; colorectal cancer.