Prognostic role of dysregulated circRNAs in patients with non-small cell lung cancer: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer incidence and mortality. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for the vast majority of lung cancer, which lacks comprehensive prognostic biomarkers to predict the prognosis of patients. This research was performed to assess the potential prognostic role of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in patients with NSCLC. METHODS: We searched the following databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Ovid MEDLINE(R) up to May 20, 2019 to identify studies which explored the association between circRNAs and NSCLC. Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was applied to assess the quality of the included studies. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and the corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to assess the prognostic value of circRNAs in patients with NSCLC. Subgroup analyses were performed to explain heterogeneity among the included studies. Publication bias was estimated using Begg’s funnel plot. Sensitivity analysis was performed to test the stability of pooled results. RESULTS: A total of 19 eligible studies including 1,650 NSCLC patients were included in this research. Pooled results indicated that the up-regulated expression of circRNAs was significantly associated with worse prognosis of patients with NSCLC (HR =2.08, 95% CI: 1.81–2.40). CONCLUSIONS: Our finding indicated that circRNAs could serve as prognostic biomarkers in patients with NSCLC. However, further large-scale prospective studies about the clinical significance of circRNAs are of great need in order to obtain conclusive results.