A meta-analysis: The diagnostic values of long non-coding RNA as a biomarker for gastric cancer

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified as novel biomarkers for the diagnosis, staging and prognosis for gastric cancer. However, various studies have reported a series of significances based on different diagnostic values. Therefore, the current study performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of lncRNAs for gastric cancer, and to discuss lncRNA types and sources of heterogeneity. The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, the China Academic Journals Full-text Database and the Chinese Scientific Journals Database were systematically searched for potential studies. Studies were included if they were associated with lncRNAs, gastric cancer and reported diagnostic outcomes. Analysis of diagnostic values was used to summarize the overall test performance of lncRNAs. Ten studies were included in this meta-analysis. The ranges of the diagnostic value of lncRNAs for gastric cancer were as follows: Sensitivity was 0.45-0.83, and pooled sensitivity was 0.63; specificity was 0.60-0.93, and pooled specificity was 0.75; positive likelihood ratio was 1.80-6.92, and pooled positive likelihood ratio was 2.51; negative likelihood ratio was 0.23-0.67, and pooled negative likelihood ratio was 0.50; diagnostic odds ratio was 3.33-13.75, and pooled diagnostic odds ratio was 5.47. An overall area under the curve value of the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.7550. LncRNAs did not have a high accuracy for identifying gastric cancer at present, but may be a useful screening tool for diagnosing gastric cancer due to their correlation with gastric cancer biological features. LncRNAs are potential biomarkers for gastric cancer if the screening strategy is altered, or they are combined with other biomarkers to diagnose gastric cancer.