# Meta-analysis of the correlation between high expression of lncRNA NEAT1 in rectal cancer and pathological features and prognosis

## TL;DR

This study finds that high levels of lncRNA NEAT1 in rectal cancer are linked to worse outcomes and certain tumor features.

## Contribution

The study provides a meta-analysis showing lncRNA NEAT1 as a potential biomarker for rectal cancer prognosis.

## Key findings

- High NEAT1 expression correlates with poor tumor differentiation and larger tumor size.
- High NEAT1 expression is associated with reduced overall survival in rectal cancer patients.
- NEAT1 expression is not linked to gender or lymph node metastasis in rectal cancer.

## Abstract

To systematically evaluate the relationship between the expression level of long noncoding RNA NEAT1 and the clinical characteristics and prognostic value of rectal cancer patients.

PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane library database and case-control studies on the correlation between abnormal expression of lncRNA NEAT1 and prognosis of rectal cancer patients published by the American clinical trials registry before May 1, 2023 were searched. The search time was from the establishment of the database to May 30, 2023.

A total of 7 case-control studies were included, including 1063 cancer patients. The results of meta-analysis showed that the high expression of lncRNA NEAT1 was significantly correlated with the degree of differentiation [or=0.45, 95%CI=0.32-0.63, P<0.01], tumor size [or=0.59, 95%CI=0.42-0.82, P<0.01], and overall survival [HR=1.34, 95%CI=1.21-1.48, P<0.001]; However, it was not associated with gender [or=1.23, 95%CI= 0.88-1.72, P=0.23] and lymph node metastasis [or=0.87, 95%CI=0.45-1.66, P=0.67].

The high expression of lncRNA NEAT1 may be a risk factor for poor prognosis in patients with malignant tumors, and lncRNA NEAT1 can be used as a potential biomarker to evaluate its prognosis.