Circular RNA circSMARCA5 is a prognostic biomarker in patients with malignant tumor: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: Malignant tumor is one of the most serious diseases endangering human health. Circular RNAs play an important role in the tumorigenesis and progression of various malignant tumors. Although various studies have investigated the biological function of circular RNA circSMARCA5 in malignant tumors, the prognostic value of circSMARCA5 in malignant tumor patients has not been systematically analyzed.

Methods: Relevant studies were obtained from the PubMed and Web of Science database. The quality of the enrolled studies was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale quality assessment system. Survival features and clinicopathological features were assessed using pooled hazard ratios and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals, respectively.

Results: Overall, 7 relevant publications were enrolled in the meta-analysis. CircSMARCA5 expression was significantly correlated with better OS (HR = 0.51, 95%CI 0.41-0.65) or DFS/RFS/PFS (HR = 0.56, 95%CI 0.43-0.73) in malignant tumors. In the pooled analyses of clinicopathological characteristics, malignant tumors with higher circSMARCA5 were better differentiated (OR = 0.41, 95%CI 0.19-0.88). CircSMARCA5 expression was correlated with less advanced TNM stage (OR = 0.33, 95%CI 0.19-0.55). Moreover, malignant tumors with higher circSMARCA5 expression have less advanced lymph node metastasis (OR = 0.26, 95%CI 0.08-0.79).

Conclusion: These results indicated that circSMARCA5 was a promising biomarker in malignant tumors, which may potentially facilitate clinical decisions in the future.

Keywords: Biomarker; Circular RNA; Malignant tumor; circSMARCA5.

Fig. 1

Flow chart of screening eligible articles for the meta-analysis

Fig. 2

Quality assessment of the enrolled studies. a Each risk of bias item for each included study. b Each risk of bias item presented as percentages across all included studies

Fig. 3

Forest plot of the association between abnormal circSMARCA5 expression and (a) OS and (b) DFS/RFS/PFS

Fig. 4

Subgroup analyses of OS, stratified by (a) analysis method, (b) sample size, (c) follow-up time, (d) cancer type, (e) definition of the cut-off

Fig. 5

Forest plot of the association between abnormal circSMARCA5 expression and (a) differentiation, (b) TNM stage, and (c) lymph node metastasis

Fig. 6

Sensitive analyses of the meta-analyses between abnormal circSMARCA5 expression and (a) OS, (b) DFS/RFS/PFS, (c) differentiation, (d) TNM stage, (e) lymph node metastasis