A diagnostic and prognostic value of blood-based circulating long non-coding RNAs in thyroid, pancreatic and ovarian cancer

Several studies have demonstrated the potential of circulating long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) as promising cancer biomarkers. Herein, we addressed the regulatory role of circulating lncRNAs and their potential value as diagnostic/prognostic markers for thyroid, pancreatic and ovarian cancers. Furthermore, we analyzed and measured the clinical implications and association of lncRNAs with sensitivity, specificity, and area under the ROC curve (AUC). Based on our meta-analysis, we found that GAS8-AS1 could discriminate thyroid cancer from non-cancer and other cancers with higher accuracy (AUC = 0.746; sensitivity = 61.70 %, and specificity = 90.00 %). Similarly, for ovarian cancer, lncRNA RP5-837J1.2 was found to have ideal diagnostic potential with critical clinical specifications of AUC = 0.996; sensitivity = 97.30 % and specificity = 94.60 %. Whereas we could not find any lncRNA having high diagnostic/prognostic efficiency in pancreatic cancer. We believe that lncRNAs mentioned above may explore clinical settings for the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer patients.

Automated summary

This study investigates the regulatory role of circulating lncRNAs in thyroid, pancreatic and ovarian cancers, and identifies potential lncRNAs that may serve as diagnostic and prognostic markers for these cancers.