Published online Oct 15, 2019. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v11.i10.909
Peer-review started: June 19, 2019
First decision: July 31, 2019
Revised: August 6, 2019
Accepted: September 4, 2019
Article in press: September 4, 2019
Published online: October 15, 2019
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide. At present, reliable biomarkers for HCC are unavailable, so it is necessary to investigate novel effective ones. The application of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in numerous tumors has been drawing considerable attention. However, the clinical value of circRNAs in HCC has not been determined.
We sought to provide evidence on the potential clinical value of abnormal circRNAs in HCC from the perspective of evidence-based medicine.
This meta-analysis was designed to reveal the clinicopathological, prognostic, and diagnostic features of circRNAs in HCC.
We searched for articles in PubMed, EMBASE, and CNKI databases before May 2019. Studies reporting on the clinicopathologic, diagnostic, or prognostic significance of circRNAs in HCC were eligible for inclusion. The meta-analysis was performed with Stata and Meta-DiSc software, and the study quality was assessed in accordance with the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 Checklist and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. According to the heterogeneity of the studies, a fixed- or random-effects model was used for pooling analysis.
A total of 21 studies were eligible for the meta-analysis. The results showed that the abnormality in the expression of circRNAs was of good significance in the diagnostic determination of HCC. The down-regulation of circRNAs was negatively correlated with HCC prognosis, while the up-regulated circRNAs were positively related to the overall survival. The circRNAs were significantly associated with poor clinicopathological features in patients with HCC.
This meta-analysis suggested that circRNAs may be a promising biomarker for the determination of diagnosis and prognosis of HCC in clinical practice.
The results of this meta-analysis may contribute to a better understanding of the potential clinical application of abnormal circRNAs in HCC.