Prognostic value of miR-17-5p in cancers: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND

Studies have shown that miR-17-5p plays an important role in the development of cancer. The aim of this meta-analysis was to quantitatively analyze the association of miR-17-5p with prognosis in various cancers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane library databases for relevant studies through August 2017. The prognostic data and clinico-pathological features of overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were extracted to investigate the association between miR-17-5p expression and tumor prognosis. In addition, odds ratios (ORs) were used to assess the correlations between miR-17-5p expression and clinicopathological characteristics.

RESULTS

A total of ten studies were incorporated into this systematic review, and we found that high miR-17-5p expression can predict poor OS for malignancies (combined hazard ratio [HR]=1.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.37-2.55; =0.000) as well as poor DFS (combined HR=1.60; 95% CI, 1.05-2.44; =0.027). Further subgroup analyses suggested that high miR-17-5p expression was related to poor OS in Asian patients (combined HR=1.92; 95% CI, 1.37-2.71; =0.000) and the serum/plasma sample source subgroup (combined HR=2.13; 95% CI, 1.36-3.31; =0.001). The combined OR indicated that the expression of miR-17-5p was associated with lymph node invasion (OR=1.28; 95% CI, 1.05-1.56; =0.016) and venous invasion (OR=1.92; 95% CI, 1.40-2.63; =0.000).

CONCLUSION

Elevated expression of miR-17-5p suggested a poor prognosis in cancer patients and may serve as a new tumor marker to monitor cancer development and progression.