Diagnostic significance of miRNAs as potential biomarkers for human renal cell carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Numerous studies have explored miRNAs as potential diagnostic biomarkers in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, its diagnostic accuracy remains controversial. Research design and methods PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Science and Technology Journal, and Wanfang Databases were searched according to inclusion/exclusion criteria. The quality of the studies was assessed using the QUADAS-2 scale. The combined sensitivity, specificity, positive/negative likelihood ratios, diagnostic odds ratio, and area under the curve (AUC) of the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) were calculated using a bivariate mixed-effect model. Results Of the 16 studies included, 20 diagnostic tests were assessed. Results are presented with a corresponding 95% confidence interval in brackets: for miR-210, the combined sensitivity was 0.78 (0.68–0.85), specificity 0.71 (0.61–0.79), and AUC 0.81 (0.77–0.8); for miR-378, combined sensitivity 0.78 (0.68–0.86), specificity 0.79 (0.64–0.89), and AUC 0.85 (0.81–0.88); for miR-1233, combined sensitivity 0.86 (0.80–0.90), specificity 0.80 (0.36–0.96), and AUC 0.86 (0.83–0.89); for miR-21, combined sensitivity 0.84 (0.78–0.89), specificity 0.79 (0.55–0.92), and AUC 0.87 (0.84–0.89). Conclusions This meta-analysis suggests that miR-210, miR-378, miR-1233, and miR-21 have high accuracy in diagnosing RCC.