High expression of long noncoding RNA LUCAT1 correlates with a poor clinical outcome in solid tumors: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Backgrounds: Extensive studies have been performed to analyze the expression of long non-coding RNA the lung cancer associated transcript 1 (lncRNA LUCAT1) in various cancer types, and the predictive value of high or low lncRNA LUCAT1 level in survival time. We prepared to assess the association between the lncRNA LUCAT1 expression and the prognosis as well as clinical parameters in human cancers. Methods: We retrieved completely in some main databases, such as PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI), and Wanfang database. Then we counted the pooled hazard ratio (HR) and odds ratio (OR) with 95 % confidence interval (CI) to investigate the clinical value of lncRNA LUCAT1. Results: We found that overexpression of lncRNA LUCAT1 was highly associated with shorter overall survival (HR = 1.91, 95 % CI: 1.59-2.31, P < 0.00001) through comprehensively analyzing eight of the total eleven eligible papers. Meanwhile, high lncRNA LUCAT1 expression was significantly related to deeper invasion depth (HR= 3.16, 95 % CI: 1.76-5.70, P= 0.0001), larger tumor size (HR= 2.10, 95 % CI: 1.54-2.86, P < 0.00001), advanced clinical stage (HR = 3.52, 95 % CI: 1.98-6.27, P < 0.0001), and more lymph node metastasis (HR = 2.99, 95 % CI: 1.36-6.57, P = 0.006), respectively. Conclusions: Our outcomes suggest that upregulation of lncRNA LUCAT1 in patients with different cancers can predict a shorter survival time and act as an unfavorable prognostic molecular indicator.