Meta-analysis of the prognostic value of lncRNA ZFAS1 in patients with solid tumors

Expression of ZFAS1, a newly identified long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), is dysregulated in several types of cancer. Here we assessed the prognostic value of ZFAS1 in solid tumors. A comprehensive literature search was performed by screening the PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, CNKI, and Wanfang databases. A total of 874 patients from 10 studies were included. The pooled analysis demonstrated that patients with high ZFAS1 expression had a significantly shorter overall survival (OS) (HR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.28–1.97; P < 0.001) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.29–2.79; P = 0.001). Moreover, elevated ZFAS1 expression correlated with tumor size, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, and lymph node metastasis (LNM). These results demonstrate that increased ZFAS1 expression correlates with a poor prognosis in cancer patients, which suggests ZFAS1 might be useful as a potential prognostic biomarker in patients with solid tumors.