Prognostic value of long non-coding RNA ATB in digestive system cancers: A meta-analysis

The present meta-analysis has evaluated the association between lncRNA ATB, prognosis and clinicopathological parameters in patients with digestive cancers.

Eligible studies were gathered from Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, WanFang databases and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (up to October 15, 2019). Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to estimate the prognosis and clinicopathological parameters of lncRNA ATB in patients with digestive cancers.

We divided this study into two groups, pancreatic cancer (PC, downregulation) and non-pancreatic cancer (non-PC, upregulation). In the non-PC group, high expression levels of lncRNA ATB were significantly related to poor OS (pooled HR = 2.19, 95 % CI 1.68-2.85, P＜0.00001). In contrast, increased levels of lncRNA ATB in pancreatic cancer tissue were favorable factors in OS (HR = 0.47, 95 % CI 0.32-0.69, P = 0.0001). The pooled data suggested that high expression levels of lncRNA ATB predicted a poor DFS in CRC and a poor RFS in HCC. Increased expression of lncRNA ATB was correlated with negative lymph node metastasis and TNM stage in the non-PC group. In contrast, lncRNA ATB were favorable factors for LNM and TNM stages in pancreatic cancer.

LncRNA ATBs, whether cancer promoters or suppressors, were potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for digestive system cancers.