Long noncoding RNA MALAT1 as a candidate serological biomarker for the diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer: A meta-analysis

Background To investigate the diagnostic efficacy of long noncoding RNA metastasis-associated in lung adenocarcinoma transcript l (MALAT1) as a candidate serological biomarker for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Diagnostic studies relevant to circulation long noncoding RNA MALAT1 as a candidate serological biomarker for NSCLC were electronically systematically searched in PubMed, EMBASE, EBSCO and CNKI databases. Suitable studies were included in the meta-analysis by pooling the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (+LR), negative likelihood ratio (-LR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and area under the symmetric ROC curve (AUC) through a random or fixed effects model. Deeks' funnel plot was applied for publication bias evaluation. Results Six studies with eight datasets were finally included in the meta-analysis after a systematic search of the databases was performed. The pooled diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, +LR, -LR and DOR were 0.81 (95% CI:0.78-0.84), 0.67 (95% CI:0.63-0.71), 2.61 (95% CI:1.81-3.71), 0.28 (95% CI:0.19-0.43) and 13.73 (95% CI:6.19-30.44), respectively. The pooled area under the ROC curve (AUC) were 0.8663 and 0.8658, respectively by symmetric and asymmetric methods. Conclusion Based on the results of our study, serum long noncoding RNA MALAT1 is a promising biomarker for NSCLC screening. However, due to its low specificity, MALAT1 positive cases need further validation for NSCLC by other diagnostic methods such as radiology, cytology, etc.