Abstract
Background: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are new stars in the network of noncoding RNAs and are regarded as key control factors in numerous tumours. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the clinical, prognostic and diagnostic role of circRNAs in colorectal cancer. The quality of all the articles were assessed by the Newcastle‐Ottawa Scale. Methods: An online search in electronic databases, including the PubMed, Cochrane Library and Web of Science online databases, was conducted to identify as many relevant papers as possible. Nineteen relevant studies were enrolled in this meta-analysis, with seven on diagnosis, eight on prognosis and 11 on clinicopathological features. Results: For the diagnostic value of circRNAs, the pooled results showed that the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.82 for identifying patients with colorectal cancer, with a sensitivity of 83% and a specificity of 72%. In terms of prognosis, carcinogenic circRNAs have a negative effect on overall survival (OS: HR = 2.29, 95% CI: 1.50-3.52), and increases in tumour suppressor circRNA expression are associated with longer survival (OS: HR = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.22-0.64). And the elevated expression of oncogenic circRNAs is associated with poor clinical features while tumor suppressor circRNAs are the complete opposite. Conclusions: These results suggest that circRNAs may be a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of colorectal cancer.
The importance of stool DNA methylation in colorectal cancer diagnosis: A meta-analysis