Meta-analysis of the prognostic value of lncRNA DANCR for cancer patients in China

Yanghua Fan,1,* Yu He,2,* Xi Zhou,2,* Yong Liu,2 Fu Wang3 1Department of Central Laboratory, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China; 2Department of Orthopedics, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China; 3Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Ji’nan, Shandong, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Abnormal expression of long non-coding RNA anti-differentiation noncoding RNA (lncRNA DANCR) can frequently be detected in cancer. Because of this, it is of vital necessity to perform a meta-analysis to clarify the value of lncRNA DANCR as a prognostic marker in malignant tumors.Methods: Related studies were retrieved from electronic databases including Web of Science, PubMed, and OVID, from inception to November 21, 2018. The HRs and corresponding 95% CIs were also calculated to explore the relationship of lncRNA DANCR expression with patient survival. Moreover, ORs were computed to assess the association of lncRNA DANCR expression with the pathological parameters.Results : A total of 14 studies involving 1,117 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled HR suggested that high lncRNA DANCR expression was correlated with poor overall survival (OS; HR =1.85, 95% CI: 1.56–2.18) and disease-free survival (DFS; HR =2.49, 95% CI: 1.75–3.56) in cancer patients. Besides, High lncRNA DANCR expression was related to poor histological grade (PHG; OR =2.01, 95% CI: 1.08–3.75), high tumor stage (HTS; OR =3.52, 95% CI: 1.67–7.43), lymph node metastasis (LNM; OR =3.47, 95% CI: 1.42–8.49), and distant metastasis (DM; OR =4.76, 95% CI: 2.39–9.51). However, no evidence of obvious asymmetry was found for DFS (Pr>|z|=0.308), PHG (Pr>|z|=0.707), LNM (Pr>|z|=0.174), and DM (Pr>|z|=0.734) using Begg’s funnel plot.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that high lncRNA DANCR expression can predict poor OS, DFS, PHG, HTS, LNM, and DM in cancer patients, implying that high lncRNA DANCR expression may potentially serve as a new indicator for poor prognosis and metastasis in cancer. Keywords: lncRNA, DANCR, neoplasms, prognosis, metastasis