The clinical value of miR-193a-3p in non-small cell lung cancer and its potential molecular mechanism explored in silico using RNA-sequencing and microarray data

miR-193a-3p is a tumor-related miRNA playing an essential role in tumorigenesis and progression of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between miR-193a-3p expression and clinical value and to further explore the potential signaling of miR-193a-3p in the carcinogenesis of NSCLC. RNA-sequencing and microarray data were collected from the databases GEO, ArrayExpress and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Furthermore, in silico assessments were performed to analyze the prospective pathways and networks of the target genes of miR-193a-3p. In total, 453 cases of NSCLC patients and 476 normal controls were included in blood samples, while 920 cases of NSCLC patients and 406 normal controls were included in tissue samples. The pooled positive likelihood ratio, the pooled negative likelihood ratio and the pooled diagnostic odds ratio were calculated to reflect the diagnostic value of miR-193a-3p in blood and tissue samples. Moreover, the areas under the curve of the summary receiver operating characteristic curve of blood and tissue were 0.64 and 0.79, respectively. In addition, we found a lower level of miR-193a in NSCLC tissues than in non-cancerous controls based on TCGA. A gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis demonstrated that miR-193a-3p could be related to key signaling pathways in NSCLC. Also, several vital pathways were illustrated by KEGG. Lower expression of miR-193a-3p in tissue samples of NSCLC may be associated with tumorigenesis and be a predictor of deterioration of NSCLC patients, and pathway analysis revealed crucial signaling pathways correlated with the incidence and progress of NSCLC.