Prognostic Value of lncRNA NEAT1 as a New Biomarker in Digestive System Tumors: a Systematic Study and Meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

Objective

Nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1 (NEAT1), a newly found lncRNA, is found abnormally expressed in digestive system tumors. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the effect of NEAT1 on digestive system tumors.

Methods

An analysis was conducted to investigate NEAT1 expression in digestive system tumors from the PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases. The relationship between NEAT1 expression and patient overall survival (OS) and clinicopathology was evaluated by correlation analysis with the pooled hazard ratio (HR), 95% confidence interval (CI), and odds ratio (OR).

Results

A total of 12 published studies were enrolled in this meta-analysis. The NEAT1 overexpression was significantly associated with poor OS (HR = 1.64, 95% CI:1.41–1.91, p < 0.05), lymphatic metastasis (OR = 2.70, 95% CI: 2.02–3.61, p < 0.05), distal metastasis (OR = 3.01, 95% CI: 1.97–4.59, p < 0.05) and advanced tumor stage (OR = 3.04, 95% CI: 2.32–3.99, p < 0.05). However, digestive system tumor patients with high NEAT1 expression was not related to the patients’ age (OR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.65–1.26, p = 0.561), gender (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 0.81–1.33, p = 0.761), tumor size (OR = 1.84, 95% CI: 0.88–3.88, p = 0.106), and tumor differentiation (OR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.51–1.44, p = 0.570).

Conclusion

Collectively, NEAT1 can be used as a potential biomarker to predict the prognosis of patients with digestive system tumors, which is worth verifying in clinical practice.

KEYWORDS:

• lncRNA NEAT1
• digestive System
• cancer
• prognosis
• meta-analysis

Abbreviations

NEAT1	=	Nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1
OS	=	Overall survival
CI	=	Confidence interval
OR	=	Odds ratio
HR	=	Hazard ratio
EC	=	Esophageal cancer
lncRNA	=	Long non-coding RNA
PRISMA	=	Preferred Reporting Items For Systematic Review
NOS	=	Newcastle–Ottawa Scale
PanINs	=	Pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia
IPMNs	=	Lesions similar to intraductal papillary mucinous tumor
HCC	=	Hepatocellular carcinoma

Disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Availability of data and materials

All data generated or analyzed in this study are included in this published article.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was funded by the Development and Reform Commission of Jilin province, China (grant no. 2017C0582).