Yang HC, Fu CF, Qiao LJ, Long GH, Yang LF, Yao B. Relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and programmed death-ligand 1 in gastric cancer: A meta-analysis. World J Clin Oncol 2025; 16(4): 102397 [DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i4.102397]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Cheng-Feng Fu, Department of Oncology, Tongren People’s Hospital, No. 120 Taoyuan Avenue, Tongren 554300, Guizhou Province, China. fcf930128@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Meta-Analysis
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Hong-Chang Yang, Department of Gastroenterology, Longgang Central Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518100, Guangdong Province, China
Cheng-Feng Fu, Li-Fen Yang, Biao Yao, Department of Oncology, Tongren People’s Hospital, Tongren 554300, Guizhou Province, China
Li-Jun Qiao, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Guizhou Health Vocational College, Tongren 554300, Guizhou Province, China
Gen-He Long, Department of School of Medicine, Guizhou Vocational and Technical College, Tongren 554300, Guizhou Province, China
Author contributions: Yang HC designed the report and performed the statistical analyses; Qiao LJ and Long GH collected the clinical data; Yang LF responsible for data sorting; Yao B provided key intellectual discussions; Fu CF performed the final revision and translation of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Cheng-Feng Fu, Department of Oncology, Tongren People’s Hospital, No. 120 Taoyuan Avenue, Tongren 554300, Guizhou Province, China. fcf930128@163.com
Received: October 16, 2024 Revised: December 4, 2024 Accepted: February 6, 2025 Published online: April 24, 2025 Processing time: 161 Days and 3.2 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, and Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection is a well-established risk factor for its development. Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression is a crucial biomarker for predicting the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer treatment. While HP infection and PD-L1 expression in GC may be linked, the relationship between them remains unclear, in part because there have been conflicting results reported from various studies.
AIM
To perform a meta-analysis to assess the relationship between HP and PD-L1 expression in patients with GC.
METHODS
A systematic literature review was conducted using PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases. Observational studies that examined the association between HP infection and PD-L1 expression in patients with GC were included. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to estimate the association. Heterogeneity was assessed using Cochrane’s Q test and I² statistic. A random-effects model was used due to significant heterogeneity across studies.
RESULTS
Fourteen studies involving a total of 3069 patients with GC were included. The pooled analysis showed a significant association between HP infection and increased PD-L1 expression in GC tissues (odd ratio = 1.69, 95% confidence interval: 1.24-2.29, P < 0.001, I2 = 59%). Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these findings. Subgroup analyses did not show significant variation based on geographic region, sample size, or method of PD-L1 assessment. Publication bias was minimal, as shown by funnel plots and Egger’s regression test.
CONCLUSION
HP infection is associated with increased PD-L1 expression in GC, suggesting that HP status may influence the response to programmed cell death protein 1/PD-L1 blockade therapy.
Core Tip: This meta-analysis investigated the relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and programmed death-ligand 1 expression in gastric cancer (GC). Fourteen studies with 3069 GC patients were included. Results showed a significant association. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses confirmed the robustness. Publication bias was minimal. Helicobacter pylori infection may influence the response to programmed cell death protein 1/programmed death-ligand 1 blockade therapy in GC patients, but further research is needed to clarify the underlying mechanisms and clinical implications.
