Exosomal microRNAs as potential circulating biomarkers in gastrointestinal tract cancers: a systematic review protocol

BACKGROUND: Metastasis is the most frequent type of recurrence in gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, and there is an emerging potential for new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, especially in the cases of metastatic GI carcinomas. The expression profiles of circulating exosomal microRNAs are of particular interest as novel non-invasive diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for improved detection of GI cancers in body fluids, especially in the serum of patients with recurrent cancers. The aim of this study is to systematically review primary studies and identify the miRNA profiles of serum exosomes of GI cancers. METHODS AND DESIGN: This systematic review will be reported in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidance. Relevant studies will be identified through a comprehensive search of the following main electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, and Google Scholar, with no language restrictions (up to July 2017). Full copies of articles will be identified by a defined search strategy and will be considered for inclusion against pre-defined criteria. The quality assessment of the included studies will be performed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Data will be analyzed using Stata software V.12. Publication bias will be assessed by funnel plots, Beggs’ and Eggers’ tests. The levels of evidence for primary outcomes will be evaluated using the GRADE criteria. DISCUSSION: The analysis of circulating exosomal miRNA profiles provides attractive screening and non-invasive diagnostic tools for the majority of solid tumors including GI cancers. There is limited information regarding the relationship between serum exosomal miRNA profiles and the pathological condition of patients with different GI cancers. Since there is no specific biomarker for GI cancers, we aim to suggest a number of circulating exosomal miRNA candidates as potential multifaceted GI cancer biomarkers for clinical utility. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42017057129 ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13643-017-0624-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.