MiR-212 value in prognosis and diagnosis of cancer and its association with patient characteristics: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

BackgroundDelayed cancer diagnosis and inefficient cancer prognosis determination are problems faced in cancer diagnosis and treatment. MicroRNAs (miRs), especially miR-212, have shown a promise in cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Herein, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the prognostic and diagnostic value of miR-212 level in cancer and evaluated its association with patient characteristics.MethodsA fully electronic literature search using related keywords was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and ScienceDirect databases by June 6, 2021, with no time or language restriction. Meta-analysis was performed to pool survival prognosis data using hazard ratio (HR), association using odds ratio (OR), and diagnostic data using sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR). Sub-group analysis and meta-regression were performed as appropriate.ResultsResults of 28 studies on 1880 patients showed a poor cancer prognosis with high levels of miR-212 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC, HR = 2.451 [1.447–4.149]), and a poor cancer prognosis with low levels of miR-212 in other cancers (HR = 2.514 [2.162–2.923]). Higher alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level and Edmondson-Steiner grade were factors associated with miR-212 low level incidence. Diagnostic odds ratio 10.688 (3.644–31.348) and SROC AUC of 0.84 confirmed high diagnostic performance of miR-212.ConclusionOur systematic review and meta-analysis results confirm miR-212 high value in cancer prognosis and diagnosis. High level of miR-212 showed poor prognosis in PDAC and low level of miR-212 showed poor prognosis in other cancers. in conclusion, miR-212 could be a novel potential biomarker in cancer diagnosis and prognosis.