Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 May 5:15:1574150.
doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1574150. eCollection 2025.

Downregulation of PAQR3 expression predicts poor prognosis of patients with pan-cancer: a meta-analysis

Kui Zhai  1 , Xing-Peng Miao  1 , Shi-Gui Ai  1 , Qiang Guo  2 , Ren-Zhong Zha  1
Affiliations
Review

Downregulation of PAQR3 expression predicts poor prognosis of patients with pan-cancer: a meta-analysis

Kui Zhai et al. Front Oncol. .

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the association between progestin and adipoQ receptor 3 (PAQR3) expression and survival outcomes, as well as disease progression, through a meta-analysis. A systematic literature search was conducted across multiple academic databases, including Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Relevant studies were identified and screened based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Statistical analyses, including odds ratios (ORs), hazard ratios (HRs), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), were employed to assess the relationship between PAQR3 expression levels and prognostic outcomes, as well as clinicopathological features in pan-cancer patients. A total of 1032 patients from nine eligible studies were included in the meta-analysis. The results demonstrated that high PAQR3 expression was significantly associated with improved overall survival (HR = 0.32; 95% CI = 0.19-0.56) and disease-free survival (HR = 0.35; 95% CI = 0.20-0.61) in pan-cancer patients. Downregulation of PAQR3 expression was significantly correlated with adverse clinicopathological characteristics, including lymph node metastasis (HR = 0.22; 95% CI = 0.06-0.82), higher histological grade (HR = 0.31; 95% CI = 0.12-0.81), advanced pathological stage (HR = 0.18; 95% CI = 0.05-0.66), tumor size (HR = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.36-1.5), distant metastasis (HR = 0.36; 95% CI = 0.07-1.82), and tumor invasion (HR = 0.18; 95% CI = 0.11-0.29). However, no significant associations were observed between PAQR3 expression and gender (HR = 0.94; 95% CI = 0.59-1.5) or age (HR = 1.10; 95% CI = 0.77-1.56). In conclusion, reduced PAQR3 expression in pan-cancer patients is associated with worse clinical outcomes and may promote cancer progression. These findings suggest that PAQR3 could serve as a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for cancer treatment.

Keywords: EGFR; PAQR3; biomarker; cancer; meta-analysis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The flow diagram of eligible studies in this meta-analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plot of HRs for the association between PAQR3 expression and cancer prognosis stratified by different cancer types. (A) OS, (B) DFS. DFS, disease-free survival; OS, overall survival.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest plot of HRs for the association between PAQR3 expression and clinical pathological stage, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis stratified by different cancer types. (A) Pathological stage, (B) Lymph node metastasis, (C) Distant metastasis.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest plot of HRs for the association between PAQR3 expression and tumor size, histological grade, and invasion depth stratified by different cancer types. (A) Tumor size, (B) Histological grade, (C) Depth of invasion.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Forest plot of HRs for the association between PAQR3 expression and age and gender stratified by different cancer types. (A) Age, (B) Gender.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The funnel plot between PAQR3 expression and the clinicopathological parameters in various cancers. (A) OS; (B) DFS; (C) Pathological stage; (D) Lymph node metastasis, (E) Distant metastasis; (F) Tumor size; (G) Histological grade; (H) Age; (I) Gender. DFS, Disease-free survival; OS, overall survival.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Sensitivity analysis for PAQR3 expression in detecting various cancer patients’ overall survival (OS). HR, hazard ratio; CI, confidence interval.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Reck M, Remon J, Hellmann MD. First-line immunotherapy for non-small-cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol. (2022) 40:586–97. doi: 10.1200/JCO.21.01497 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wu SG, Shih JY. Management of acquired resistance to EGFR TKI-targeted therapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Mol Cancer. (2018) 17:38. doi: 10.1186/s12943-018-0777-1 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. He J, Huang Z, Han L, Gong Y, Xie C. Mechanisms and management of 3rd−generation EGFR−TKI resistance in advanced non−small cell lung cancer (Review). Int J Oncol. (2021) 59:90. doi: 10.3892/ijo.2021.5270 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Passaro A, Jänne PA, Mok T, Peters S. Overcoming therapy resistance in EGFR-mutant lung cancer. Nat Cancer. (2021) 2:377–91. doi: 10.1038/s43018-021-00195-8 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Yu X, Li Z, Chan MT, Wu WK. PAQR3: a novel tumor suppressor gene. Am J Cancer Res. (2015) 5:2562–8. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources