Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40055816›Full record

SynthesisWorld journal of surgical oncology2025

Evaluation of C-reactive protein levels in patients with penile cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Tao Qin, Shuixian Du, Kening Zhang, Likai Wang, Lin Zong, Litong Wang, Wenjun Yu

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in World journal of surgical oncology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Tao Qin *The Third Clinical School of Medical Science, Qingdao University, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao, Shandong, P.R. China.
Shuixian Du *Department of Infectious Disease, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao, Shandong, China.
Kening ZhangDepartment of Interventional Radiotherapy, Pingdu Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Pingdu, Shandong, P.R. China.
Likai WangDepartment of Neurological Rehabilitation, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Liaoning, PR China.
Lin ZongQingdao Women and Children's Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, P.R. China.
Litong WangDepartment of Neurological Rehabilitation, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Liaoning, PR China. litongwanglv@163.com.
Wenjun YuThe Third Clinical School of Medical Science, Qingdao University, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao, Shandong, P.R. China. ywjyjx@sina.com.

Funding

the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province ZR2022QH055
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundC-reactive protein (CRP) is an essential biomarker for evaluating penile cancer prognosis. Previous studies have reported conflicting outcomes concerning the correlation between CRP levels and penile cancer prognosis. This study aimed to investigate this relationship by conducting a meta-analysis of published literature.

methodsA systematic literature search was conducted using the Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Embase databases to analyze the prognostic significance of serum CRP levels in individuals diagnosed with penile cancer. Pooled risk estimates were calculated using fixed-effects or random-effects models, depending on the degree of interstudy heterogeneity.

resultsSixty-eight articles were reviewed, identifying 8 articles and 989 patients that met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. The pooled analysis revealed a significant association between serum CRP levels and adverse outcomes in penile cancer cases (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.46-3.858). Additional meta-analysis findings showed a negative correlation between elevated CRP levels and overall survival (HR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.23-3.16, p<0.01), cancer-specific survival (HR = 3.42, 95% CI = 1.38-8.47, p<0.01), and disease-specific survival (HR = 3.23, 95% CI = 1.79-5.8, p<0.01) in patients with penile cancer. In the subgroup analysis, the HRs (95% CI) were 1.66 (0.61-4.48) in Europeans, 3.08 (2-4.74) in Asians, 3.04 (1.93-4. 77) in Chinese, 2.07 (1.21-3.53) in the group of cutoff value ≥ 5 mg/L, 2.43 (1.44-4.12) in the group of cutoff value ≥ 10 mg/L, 2.12 (1.04-4.32) in the group of surgical intervention, and 3.07 (1.76-5.37) in the group of multitherapy. This study also found a significant relationship between serum CRP levels and lymph node metastasis in patients with penile cancer (relative risk = 2.27, 95% CI = 1.61-3.2, p<0.01).

conclusionThis meta-analysis indicates that increased CRP levels were associated with a poorer prognosis in penile cancer. Therefore, CRP levels could potentially serve as a prognostic indicator of penile cancer.

Indexed as

Biomarkers, TumorC-Reactive ProteinPenile NeoplasmsHumansMalePrognosisSurvival RateBiomarkers, TumorC-Reactive ProteinC-reactive proteinMeta-analysisPenile cancer

Identifiers

PMID40055816
PMCPMC11889917

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.