Relationship between NAMPT/PBEF/visfatin and prognosis of patients with malignant tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), also known as pre-B-cell colony-enhancing factor (PBEF) or visfatin, has been reported to be a crucial factor involved in tumor metabolism, angiogenesis and cell apoptosis. However, its definite roles in patients with malignant cancer remain unclear.

METHODS: Three online databases PubMed, Embase and Web of Science were looked through comprehensively for eligible articles, published before November, 2018. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of overall survival (OS) or disease-free survival time or recurrence-free survival (DFS/RFS) were calculated to determine the associations between NAMPT expression and cancer prognosis.

RESULTS: A total of ten eligible studies were finally enrolled for this analysis. Our results indicated that elevated NAMPT expression was associated with poor OS in breast cancer by both univariate and multivariate analysis (pooled HR =3.23, 95% CI: 1.93-5.41, I2 =21.1%, P=0.283; pooled HR =3.34, 95% CI: 2.13-5.22, I2 =0.0%, P=0.791; respectively) and in gastric cancer by univariate analysis (pooled HR =2.47, 95% CI: 1.07-5.73, I2 =91.1%, P=0.001). Moreover, high expression of NAMPT was also related to poor DFS/RFS in breast cancer by univariate and multivariate analysis (pooled HR =3.85, 95% CI: 2.59-5.71, I2 =0.0%, P=0.700; pooled HR =3.43, 95% CI: 2.36-4.99, I2 =0.0%, P=0.737; separately). Similar results could be found in urothelial carcinoma (pooled HR =3.14, 95% CI: 1.73-5.71, I2 =47.8%, P=0.166; pooled HR =3.06, 95% CI: 1.57-5.98, I2 =0.0%, P=0.860). Besides, the translational level of NAMPT was also validated by UALCAN and the Human Protein Atlas database [immunohistochemistry (IHC)].

CONCLUSIONS: Our results shed light on that NAMPT might be an oncogenic factor in breast cancer, gastric cancer and urothelial carcinoma.