Clinicopathological and prognostic value of lncRNAs expression in gastric cancer: A field synopsis of observational studies and databases validation

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate existing evidence in the field of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and prognosis of gastric cancer. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was performed through the electronic database. The combined hazard ratios (HRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), or progression free survival (PFS) were calculated to assess the strength of the association. Kaplan-Meier (KM) plotter was used to verify lncRNA HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR) expression and OS. Results: Overall, a significant correlation between high lncRNAs expression and poor OS was explored in patients with gastric cancer (HR = 1.78, P < .001). Subgroup analysis based on statistical methods indicated the high expression of lncRNAs in log-rank (HR = 1.87, P < .001) and multivariate analysis (HR = 1.71, P < .001) were all significantly correlated with the poor OS. Clinicopathological parameters analysis showed the lncRNA expression were significantly associated prognosis, including TNM stage, tumor size, pathological differentiation, lymph nodes metastasis, distance metastasis, invasion depth and Lauren's classification. It was consistent with the verification results of bioinformatics database for lncRNA HOTAIR (P < .001). Conclusion: Our study confirmed the expression of lncRNAs and clinicopathological features may serve as effective indicators of prognosis in patients with gastric cancer.