The clinical prognostic value of lncRNA FOXP4-AS1 in cancer patients: A meta-analysis and bioinformatics analysis based on TCGA datasets

The mortality and recurrence of patients with cancer is of high prevalence. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) forkhead box P4 antisense RNA 1 (FOXP4-AS1) is a promising lncRNA. There is increasing evidence that lncRNA FOXP4-AS1 is abnormally expressed in various tumors and is associated with cancer prognosis. This study was designed to identify the prognostic value of lncRNA FOXP4-AS1 in human malignancies. METHODS: We searched electronic databases up to April 29, 2022, including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, MEDLINE, and Web of Science. Eligible studies that evaluated the clinicopathological and prognostic role of lncRNA FOXP4-AS1 in patients with malignant tumors were included. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) and the hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated to assess the role of lncRNA FOXP4-AS1 using Stata/SE 16.1 software. RESULTS: A total of 6 studies on cancer patients were included in the present meta-analysis. The combined results revealed that high expression of lncRNA FOXP4-AS1 was significantly associated with unfavorable overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.99, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.65–2.39, P < .00001), and poor disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.54–2.13, P < .00001) in a variety of cancers. In additional, the increase in lncRNA FOXP4-AS1 expression was also correlated with tumor size ((larger vs smaller) (OR = 3.16, 95% CI: 2.12–4.71, P < .00001), alpha-fetoprotein (≥400 vs <400) (OR = 3.81, 95%CI: 2.38–6.11, P = .83), lymph node metastasis (positive vs negative) (OR = 2.93, 95%CI: 1.51–5.68, P = .001), and age (younger vs older) (OR = 2.06, 95% CI: 1.41–3.00, P = .00002) in patients with cancer. Furthermore, analysis results using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset showed that the expression level of lncRNA FOXP4-AS1 was higher in most tumor tissues than in the corresponding normal tissues, which predicted a worse prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: In this meta-analysis, we demonstrate that high lncRNA FOXP4-AS1 expression may become a potential marker to predict cancer prognosis.