Prognostic value of miR-21 in various cancers: an updating meta-analysis

PLoS One. 2014 Jul 14;9(7):e102413. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0102413. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Background: Recently, more and more studies investigated the value of microRNA (miRNA) as a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker in various cancers. MiR-21 was found dysregulated in almost all types of cancers. While the prognostic role of miR-21 in many cancers has been studied, the results were not consistent.

Methods: We performed a meta-analysis to investigate the correlation between miR-21 and survival of general cancers by calculating pooled hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results: The pooled results of 63 published studies showed that elevated miR-21 was a predictor for poor survival of general carcinomas, with pooled HR of 1.91 (95%CI: 1.66-2.19) for OS, 1.42 (95% CI: 1.16-1.74) for DFS and 2.2 (95% CI: 1.64-2.96) for RFS/CSS. MiR-21 was also a prognostic biomarker in the patients who received adjuvant therapy, with pooled HR of 2.4 (95%CI: 1.18-4.9) for OS.

Conclusions: Our results showed that miR-21 could act as a significant biomarker in the prognosis of various cancers. Further studies are warranted before the application of the useful biomarker in the clinical.

Publication types

  • Meta-Analysis
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism*
  • Linear Models
  • MicroRNAs / metabolism*
  • MicroRNAs / physiology
  • Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Prognosis
  • Publication Bias
  • Survival Analysis

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • MIRN21 microRNA, human
  • MicroRNAs

Grants and funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant number: 81171908). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.