Diagnosis accuracy of the miR-200 family tumor marker series in ovarian cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the diagnosis value of the microRNA-200 family in ovarian cancer patients. However, there is much controversy regarding the diagnosis of miR-200. Therefore, it is necessary to use meta method to further confirm the significance of diagnosis role of the miR-200 family tumor marker series in ovarian cancer. METHODS: We performed a careful literature search of the PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases and search language is English for articles related to ovarian cancer diagnose and the miR-200 family. The retrieval period was from the date of establishment of the database until September 20, 2021. The search keywords included microR-200, microR-200a, microR-200b, microR-200c, ovarian cancer, ovarian carcinoma, ovarian tumor, and sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SPE), area under the curve (AUC) were then calculated to estimate the diagnostic accuracy of the miR-200 family, and meta-analysis was performed using Stata 15.0 software. RESULTS: Five articles were included in the meta-analysis. The diagnostic value of miR-200a in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) was expressed as 0.76 (95% CI: 0.67–0.84) by SEN; the combined SPE was 0.71 (95% CI: 0.49–0.86); the pooled AUC was 0.79 (95% CI: 0.76–0.83). The diagnostic value of miR-200b in EOC was expressed by SEN of 0.84 (95% CI: 0.76–0.90) and SPE of 0.73 (95% CI: 0.48–0.88). Combined AUC was 0.86 (95% CI: 0.83–0.89). The diagnostic value of miR-200c in EOC was 0.90 (95% CI:0.69–0.97), and the SPE was 0.87 (95% CI: 0.37–0.99). Combined AUC was 0.94 (95% CI: 0.92–0.96). DISCUSSION: The miR-200 family may be a marker for the diagnosis evaluation of ovarian cancer patients.