Jiang YL, Shang MM, Dong SZ, Chang YC. Abnormally expressed circular RNAs as novel non-invasive biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma: A meta-analysis. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2019; 11(10): 909-924 [PMID: 31662829 DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v11.i10.909]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Yong-Chao Chang, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital, and College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology, No. 24, Jinghua Road, Jianxi District, Luoyang 471003, Henan Province, China. zero6666888@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Meta-Analysis
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Ya-Lin Jiang, Meng-Meng Shang, Shi-Zhen Dong, Yong-Chao Chang, Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital and College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471003, Henan Province, China
Meng-Meng Shang, Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Family Planning Guidance Station of Luanchuan County, Luoyang 471500, Henan Province, China
Author contributions: Jiang YL acquired, analyzed, and interpreted the data and drafted, revised, and finally approved the article; Shang MM and Dong SZ acquired, analyzed, and interpreted the data and finally approved the article; Chang YC conceived and designed the study and critically revised and finally approved the article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors deny any conflict of interest.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yong-Chao Chang, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital, and College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology, No. 24, Jinghua Road, Jianxi District, Luoyang 471003, Henan Province, China. zero6666888@163.com
Telephone: +86-379-64830723 Fax: +86-379-64830723
Received: June 13, 2019 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 Processing time: 126 Days and 9.3 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
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.
Research motivation
We sought to provide evidence on the potential clinical value of abnormal circRNAs in HCC from the perspective of evidence-based medicine.
Research objectives
This meta-analysis was designed to reveal the clinicopathological, prognostic, and diagnostic features of circRNAs in HCC.
Research methods
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.
Research results
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.
Research conclusions
This meta-analysis suggested that circRNAs may be a promising biomarker for the determination of diagnosis and prognosis of HCC in clinical practice.
Research perspectives
The results of this meta-analysis may contribute to a better understanding of the potential clinical application of abnormal circRNAs in HCC.
