Abstract
BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have demonstrated the presence of microRNA-124 abnormalities involving gene expression, methylation, and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in multiple and diverse cancers, but the prognostic value of these abnormalities in cancer remains inconclusive. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to determine the prognostic value of miR-124 in cancer. METHODS: We scrutinized the electronic databases and estimate the association between miR-124 expression, methylation and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and prognosis in cancers. The pooled hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for overall survival (OS), and disease-free survival/recurrence-free survival (RFS)/progression-free survival (PFS) were calculated to estimate the effects of miR-124 expression, methylation, and SNPs on cancer prognosis. The Quality in Prognosis Studies and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale were utilized to assess the quality of included studies. RESULTS: A total of 20 studies involving 3,574 participants were analyzed in evidence synthesis. Our findings showed that the low expression of miR-124 was significantly associated with poor OS (HR = 2.37, 95% CI: 1.91-2.94, P = 0.00; HR = 3.10, 95% CI: 2.04-4.70, P = 0.00) and PFS/RFS (HR = 2.21, 95% CI: 1.50-3.26, P = 0.00; HR = 2.12, 95% CI: 1.20-3.74, P = 0.00). The hyper-methylation of miR-124 was associated with poor OS (HR = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.48-2.95, P = 0.00) and PFS (HR = 3.70, 95% CI: 1.72-7.97, P = 0.00) (Table 3). The patients carrying with Allele C of miR-124 rs5315649 had a worse OS (HR = 1.50, 95% CI: 1.09-2.07, P = 0.00) and PFS (HR = 1.67, 95% CI: 1.20-2.33, P = 0.00) than the carriers with Allele G. CONCLUSION: The low expression and hyper-methylation of miR-124 was strongly associated with poor prognosis, and genetic variations of miR-124 rs531564 affected prognosis in cancer patients.