High expression of AFAP1-AS1 is associated with poor prognosis of digestive system cancers: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: Actin filament-associated protein 1 antisense RNA 1 (AFAP1-AS1) is associated with prognosis in many cancers. The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the potential correlation between AFAP1-AS1 and the prognosis of digestive system cancers (DSC).Methods: EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Wanfang Data (Chinese), and CNKI (Chinese) were comprehensively searched for literature published from the establishment of the database to September 2021.All case-control studies that met the inclusion criteria were retrieved; additionally manual retrieval and literature tracing was performed. After extracting the relevant data, Revman 5.3.5 software was used for meta-analysis.Results: Eighteen studies were included in analyses, high expression of AFAP1-AS1 was significantly correlated with poor prognosis in DSC, including overall survival (HR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.72-2.17, P < .001) and disease-free survival/progression-free survival (HR = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.56-2.26, P < .001). In addition, the expression of AFAP1-AS1 was significantly correlated with tumor size, tumor stage, and lymph node metastasis. Conclusion:High expression of AFAP1-AS1 was associated with poor prognosis in DSC. Therefore, it could be used as a potential marker for evaluating prognosis in DSC Abbreviations: 95%CI = 95% confidence interval, AFAP1-AS1 = actin filament-associated protein 1 antisense RNA 1, CNKI = China national knowledge infrastructure, DFS/PFS = disease-free survival/progression-free survival, DSC = digestive system cancers, EMBASE = Excerpta Medica database, ESCC = esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, GBC = gallbladder carcinoma, GEP = gene expression profiles, HCC = hepatocellular carcinoma, HR = hazard ratio, IARC = International Agency for Research on Cancer, lncRNA = long non-coding RNA, MOOSE = Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology, NOS = Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, OS = overall survival, PAAD = pancreatic adenocarcinoma, PRISMA = Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, qRT-PCR = real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction, QUIPS = quality in progress studies, RFS = recurrence free survival, TNBC = 3 negative breast cancers.