Prognostic Value of Long Noncoding RNA NORAD in Various cancers: a meta-analysis

Abstract Objective: Accumulating studies reported that noncoding RNA activated by DNA damage (NORAD) was correlated with poor survival outcomes for patients in different cancers. However, the effects of NORAD on cancer prognosis were controversial. Therefore, a meta-analysis was carried out to elucidate this issue. Methods: Literature search was performed to collect eligible relevant publications until June 2020. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) or odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the association of NORAD with prognosis and clinical features in diverse cancers. In addition, bioinformatics analysis was also utilized to validate the results of the meta-analysis. Results: Fourteen relevant articles involving 867 patients were enrolled in the present study. The pooled results showed that elevated expression of NORAD was a risk factor for overall survival (HR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.06-2.01, P = 0.020), disease-free survival (HR = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.18-2.57, P = 0.005) and recurrence-free survival. Besides, overexpression of NORAD significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis and T stage. Additionally, bioinformatics analysis further strengthened and complemented the results of the present study. Conclusion: Our results showed that NORAD was a risk factor for survival outcomes and clinicopathological parameters in cancer patients. These findings indicated that NORAD may be a promising candidate for prognosis prediction and potential therapeutic target in diverse cancers. Key words: Long noncoding RNA, NORAD, prognosis, cancer, meta-analysis