Circulating microRNAs as a novel class of diagnostic biomarkers in gastrointestinal tumors detection: a meta-analysis based on 42 articles
Authors: Hong Wen
Ran Wang
Yongcheng Xu
Qiulan Chen
Yiqin Lin
Yu Luo
Angao Xu
Yi Luo
Journal: PLoS ONE (2014)
Discipline: Multidisciplinary
Keywords: MicroRNAs; cancer research; gastrointestinal cancers; diagnostic performance; meta-analysis
Affiliations: Department of Gastroenterology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China; Department of Ultrasound, HuiZhou Municipal Central Hospital, Huizhou, China., Department of Ultrasound, HuiZhou Municipal Central Hospital, Huizhou, China., Department of Gastroenterology, HuiZhou Municipal Central Hospital, Huizhou, China., Department of Gastroenterology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China; Department of Gastroenterology, HuiZhou Municipal Central Hospital, Huizhou, China.

Abstract:  Objective: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have become the focus of most recent efforts in cancer research. However, there have been inconsistencies in the literature regarding the suitability of circulating miRNAs for early detection of gastrointestinal cancers. This study aims to assess the diagnostic performance of circulating miRNAs in detection of gastrointestinal cancer through a meta-analysis. Methods: Eligible studies were selected by conducting a systematic literature search of public databases. The sensitivity and specificity were used to plot the summary receiver operator characteristic (SROC) curve and calculate the area under the SROC curve (AUC). The between-study heterogeneity was evaluated by Q test and I2 statistics. Subgroup analyses and meta-regression were further performed to explore the potential sources of heterogeneity. All analyses were performed using the STATA 12.0 software. Results: A total of 107 studies from 42 articles were included for the meta-analysis according to the inclusion criteria. The overall analysis of all gastrointestinal cancers showed that circulating miRNAs have a relatively good diagnostic performance in gastrointestinal cancers, with a sensitivity of 0.75, a specificity of 0.81 and an AUC of 0.85. In addition, subgroup analyses based on different type of miRNA assay suggested that single-miRNA assay displayed a relatively low diagnostic performance with the AUC values of 0.84 for gastric cancer (GC) and 0.79 for colorectal cancer (CRC), while multiple-miRNAs assay significantly improved the diagnosing accuracy with AUC rising to 0.92 for GC and 0.89 for CRC. Another interesting finding was that plasma-based miRNA assay reach a higher accuracy compared with serum-based one for GC, while opposite conclusion was drawn for CRC. Conclusions: In conclusion, circulating miRNAs, particularly the combination of multiple miRNAs, may present as promising biomarkers for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancers. Further large-scale prospective studies are necessary to validate their potential applicability in human cancer diagnosis. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
 2021 retraction. https: journals.plos.org plosone article?id=10.1371 journal.pone.0251146 Following the publication of this article [1], the editorial team has become aware that the complete author list and institutional affiliations were changed during revisions of the manuscript, but the methodology, overall results, and conclusions remained the same. The corresponding author listed on the published version of this article [1] indicated that the original authors of the manuscript were unwilling to make the requested revisions and pay the publication fee; consequently, they arranged to transfer copyright from the authors listed on the original submission to the authors listed on the published article. As per the PLOS authorship criteria in place at the time of submission of this article [1], in order to qualify for authorship authors should have contributed to the conception and design of the work, acquisition and or analysis and interpretation of data, as well as drafting and or revising of the article. Those who have contributed to the work, but do not qualify for authorship should be listed in the acknowledgements. The information received suggests the current authors do not meet the authorship criteria and concerns remain regarding compliance with PLOS ONE authorship policy. In light of the concerns affecting the authorship of this article [1], the PLOS ONE Editors retract this article. The authors did not respond to the retraction decision. Reference 1.Wang R, Wen H, Xu Y, Chen Q, Luo Y, Lin Y, et al. (2014) Circulating MicroRNAs as a Novel Class of Diagnostic Biomarkers in Gastrointestinal Tumors Detection: A Meta-Analysis Based on 42 Articles. PLoS ONE 9(11): e113401. https: doi.org 10.1371 journal.pone.0113401 pmid:25406082 ,