BACKGROUND Preliminary studies have suggested that soluble programmed death-1 (sPD-1) and soluble programmed cell death ligand-1 (sPD-L1) have prognostic implications in many malignant tumors. However, the correlation between sPD-1/sPD-L1 level and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still unclear. METHODS We searched several electronic databases from database inception to October 7, 2021. Meta-analyses were performed separately for overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), time to progression (TTP), and tumor-free survival (TFS). Random effects were introduced to this meta-analysis. The correlation between sPD-1/sPD-L1 level and prognosis was evaluated using hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs). RESULTS A total of 11 studies (1291 patients) were incorporated into this meta-analysis, including seven on sPD-L1, two on sPD-1, and two about both factors. The pooled results showed that high sPD-L1 level was associated with worse OS (HR = 2.46, 95%CI 1.74-3.49, P < 0.001; I2 = 31.4, P = 0.177) and poorer DFS/RFS/TTP/TFS of patients with HCC (HR = 2.22, 95%CI 1.47-3.35, P < 0.001; I2 = 66.1, P = 0.011), irrespective of method of detection, study type, treatment, cut-off value and follow-up time. In contrast, the level of sPD-1 was not correlated to the OS (HR = 1.19, 95%CI 0.55-2.56, P = 0.657) and DFS/TFS of patients with HCC (HR = 0.94, 95%CI 0.36-2.49, P = 0.906). CONCLUSION sPD-L1 rather than sPD-1 could be a good predictor for recurrence and survival after treatment for HCC. More high-quality prospective studies are warranted to assess the prognostic value of sPD-1 or sPD-L1 for HCC.

中文翻译：

---

可溶性程序性细胞死亡-1 (sPD-1) 和可溶性程序性细胞死亡配体-1 (sPD-L1) 对肝细胞癌的预后价值：系统评价和荟萃分析。


背景初步研究表明，可溶性程序性死亡-1（sPD-1）和可溶性程序性细胞死亡配体-1（sPD-L1）在许多恶性肿瘤中具有预后意义。然而，sPD-1/sPD-L1水平与肝细胞癌（HCC）预后的相关性仍不清楚。方法 我们检索了从数据库建立到 2021 年 10 月 7 日的多个电子数据库。分别对总生存期 (OS)、无病生存期 (DFS)、无复发生存期 (RFS)、进展时间 (TTP) 进行荟萃分析和无肿瘤生存期 (TFS)。该荟萃分析引入了随机效应。使用风险比 (HR) 和 95% 置信区间 (95%CI) 评估 sPD-1/sPD-L1 水平与预后之间的相关性。结果 本荟萃分析共纳入 11 项研究（1291 名患者），其中 7 项针对 sPD-L1，2 项针对 sPD-1，2 项针对这两个因素。汇总结果显示，高 sPD-L1 水平与较差的 OS（HR = 2.46，95%CI 1.74-3.49，P < 0.001；I2 = 31.4，P = 0.177）和较差的 DFS/RFS/TTP/TFS 相关。 HCC 患者（HR = 2.22，95%CI 1.47-3.35，P < 0.001；I2 = 66.1，P = 0.011），无论检测方法、研究类型、治疗、截止值和随访时间如何。相反，sPD-1水平与HCC患者的OS（HR=1.19，95%CI 0.55-2.56，P=0.657）和DFS/TFS（HR=0.94，95%CI 0.36-2.49）无关。 ，P = 0.906）。结论 sPD-L1 而不是 sPD-1 可能是 HCC 治疗后复发和生存的良好预测因子。需要更多高质量的前瞻性研究来评估 sPD-1 或​​ sPD-L1 对 HCC 的预后价值。