MTA1 is an indicator of prognosis in Chinese patients with lung adenocarcinoma

Lung cancer (LC) is one of the most common human malignant diseases and the leading cause of cancer-related death globally (1). A further understanding of the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis and progression of LC would promote the development of novel prognostic markers and therapeutic targets. The selection of appropriate treatment for each individual patient is determined by several factors, including the assessment of prognosis. Epithelial-tomesenchymal transition (EMT) is a key step in the progression of tumor cell metastasis. Various types of metastasis-associated cancer genes and proteins have been investigated extensively. Metastatic tumor antigen 1 (MTA1), a core component of the nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase (NuRD) complex, appears to correlate with human cancer progression and metastasis (2,3). High levels of MTA1 expression have been shown to be involved in migration, invasion, metastasis, early recurrence, and poor prognosis, suggesting that MTA1 is a molecular target for future anticancer therapeutics. Therefore, MTA1 may be a new indicator of cancer prognosis. A previous meta-analysis published in 2014 found that overexpression of MTA1 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients might be a poor prognostic factor for survival (4). Only 4 studies were included in this meta-analysis (5-8). However, the fact that the significant associations were based on a limited number of studies may reduce the statistical power. Original Article