Integrative pan-cancer analysis indicates the prognostic importance of long noncoding RNA SNHG17 in human cancers

Cancer is one of the most widespread causes of death today. Early diagnosis can dramatically reduce cancer-related mortality. Studies have shown that the lncRNA Small Nucleolar RNA Host Gene 17 (SNHG17) is aberrantly expressed in various types of solid tumors. Nevertheless, its prognostic value remains to be elucidated. The main objective of this meta-analysis was to elucidate whether SNHG17 can be considered as a potential prognostic biomarker for a variety of cancers.

Correlational studies were screened from Cochrane, Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science. Hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled, and the role of SNHG17 in cancer was analyzed. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was employed to verify the results.

Seventeen original papers including 1451 patients were included in the meta-analysis. SNHG17 expression was upregulated in various cancers. Overexpression of SNHG17 was significantly correlated with worse overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.92, 95% CI 1.55-2.37, P < 0.001) and relapse-free survival (RFS) (HR = 1.87, 95% CI 1.06-3.30, P = 0.030). Furthermore, overexpression of SNHG17 was predictive of earlier lymph node metastasis (LNM) (OR = 2.94, 95% CI 2.29-3.78, P < 0.001), more advanced tumor-node-metastases (TNM) stage (OR = 3.56, 95% CI 2.22-5.68, P < 0.001), larger tumor size (OR = 2.18, 95% CI 1.65-2.88, P < 0.001), worse differentiation grade (OR = 1.69, 95% CI 1.26-2.25, P < 0.001), and earlier distant metastasis (DM) (OR = 1.63, 95% CI 1.03-2.56, P = 0.033) in human cancers. Moreover, further inquiry based on TCGA dataset validated that SNHG17 was high expression in various tumors and foresaw unfavorable clinical prognosis.

Overexpression of SNHG17 correlates with poor prognosis and advanced clinicopathological features in cancer patients and may be a potential prognostic indicator and a therapeutic target for cancer treatment.