Prognostic Value of Long Noncoding RNA SPRY4-IT1 on Survival Outcomes in Human Carcinomas: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis with TCGA Database

BACKGROUND: Emerging evidences have shown that long noncoding RNA SPRY4-IT1 can be aberrantly expressed in human cancers, and it could be an unfavorable prognostic factor in cancer patients. However, the prognostic mechanism of SPRY4-IT1 is still unclear. This study is aimed at evaluating its potential predictive value for cancer prognosis. METHODS: We thoroughly searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and MEDLINE databases so as to explore the relationship between SPRY4-IT1 expression and cancer prognosis value. Then, TCGA datasets were used to validate the results of our meta-analysis. RESULTS: In all, seventeen studies involving 1650 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Pooled results showed that high expression of SPRY4-IT1 was significantly correlated with poor OS (HR = 1.96, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.47‐2.62, P < 0.001) in cancer patients. Furthermore, exploration of TCGA dataset further validated that SPRY4-IT1 was aberrantly expressed in various cancers, which partially confirmed our results in this meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The present systematic review and meta-analysis implicated that the aberrant expressions of lncRNA SPRY4-IT1 were strongly associated with clinical survival outcomes in various cancers and therefore might serve as a promising biomarker for predicting prognosis of human cancers.