Background: MicroRNAs (miRs) play a vital role in the occurrence, development, and progression of human cancers, but its role in the prognosis of ovarian cancer is unclear.
Methods: We performed a meta-analysis by searching PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases for eligible studies. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to explore the association between miRs expression and overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) on ovarian cancer patients. We also used Kaplan-Meier to analyze the relationship between miRs and OS in OncoLnc dataset.
Results: A total of 15 records were included into the meta-analysis. The expression level of miR-200 family showed significant association with OS (HR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.64-0.94) and insignificant association with PFS (HR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.50-1.03). Subgroup analysis revealed that an increased expression level of miR-200c was associated with better OS (HR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.45-0.74). An increased expression level of miR-200a, miR-200c, and miR-141 was associated with better PFS (miR-200a, HR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.42-0.75; miR-200c, HR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.14-0.87, miR-141, HR = 0.38, 95% CI: 0.12-0.63). Similarly, higher expression of miR-30 family was associated with elevated OS/PFS for ovarian cancer (OS, HR = 0.43, 95% CI: 0.13-0.74; PFS, HR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.64-0.87). The OncoLnc dataset presented that elevated expression level of miR-30d-5p was associated with better OS (n = 470, P = .0197).
Conclusion: The meta-analysis reveals that miR-200 family and miR-30 family could be promising prognostic biomarkers of ovarian cancer.