Long noncoding RNA SNHG12 is a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in various tumors

Background Tumors are the second most common cause of death in humans worldwide, second only to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Although methods and techniques for the treatment of tumors continue to improve, the effect is not satisfactory. These may lack effective therapeutic targets. This study aimed to evaluate the value of SNHG12 as a biomarker in the prognosis and clinical characteristics of various cancer patients. Methods We analyzed SNHG12 expression and plotted the survival curves of all cancer samples in the TCGA database using the GEPIA tool. Then, we searched for eligible papers up to April 1, 2019, in databases. Next, the data were extracted from studies examining SNHG12 expression, overall survival and clinicopathological features in patients with malignant tumors. We used Review Manager 5.3 and Stata 15 software to analyze the statistical data. Results In the TCGA database, abnormally high expression of SNHG12 in tumor samples indicates that the patient has a poor prognosis. Results of meta-analysis is that SNHG12 high expression is related to low overall survival (HR = 2.72, 95% CI = 1.95–3.8, P < 0.00001), high tumor stage (OR = 3.94, 95% CI = 2.80–5.53, P < 0.00001), high grade (OR = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.18–3.51, P = 0.01), distant metastasis (OR = 2.20, 95% CI = 1.40–3.46, P = 0.0006), tumor size (OR = 2.79, 95% CI = 1.89–4.14, P < 0.00001), and lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.66, 95% CI = 1.65–4.29, P < 0.0001). Conclusions Our study confirmed that the high expression level of SNHG12 is closely related to the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients and is a new predictive biomarker for various cancer patients.