LncRNA AWPPH as a Prognostic Predictor in Human Cancers: Evidence From Meta-analysis

Abstract Background: Long noncoding RNA associated with poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (AWPPH) is a novel oncogene and dysregulated in a variety of human cancers. It has been revealed to be associated with the clinicopathological features and prognosis. However, the prognostic value of AWPPH in various cancers remains unclear. Therefore, we perform this meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between AWPPH expression and clinical outcomes in human cancers.Methods: Comprehensive literature search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI and Wangfang databases, and eligible studies were obtained according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) were applied to assess the clinical value of AWPPH expression for overall survival (OS) and clinicopathological features.Results: A total of 19 articles including 1699 cancer patients were included in the study. The pooled results demonstrated that evaluated AWPPH expression was positively related to a poorer overall survival of patients with cancers (HR=1.79, 95%CI: 1.44-2.14, P<0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed that tumor type and sample size affect the predictive value of AWPPH on OS, whereas cut-off value and HR estimation method have no impact on it. In addition, the pooled data also showed that AWPPH was positively linked to advanced TNM stage (OR=2.67, 95%CI: 1.86-3.83, P<0.001) , bigger tumor size (OR=2.64, 95%CI:1.47-4.73, P=0.001), macro-vascular invasion (OR=2.08, 95%CI: 1.04-4.16, P=0.04) and lymph node metastasis (OR=2.68, 95%CI: 1.82-3.96, P<0.001). Moreover, the results of the trim and fill analysis confirmed the reliability of our finding. Conclusions: Upregulation of AWPPH was associated with advanced TNM stage, bigger tumor size, worse lymph node metastasis, macro-vascular invasion, and shorter overall survival, suggesting that AWPPH may serve as a biomarker for prognosis and clinicopathological characteristics in human cancers.