• Xue-Lei Ma, Lei Liu, Xiao-Xiao Liu, Yun Li, Lei Deng, Zhi-Lan Xiao, Yan-Tong Liu, Hua-Shan Shi, and Yu-quan Wei.
• Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, Chengdu, China.
• Asian Pac. J. Cancer Prev. 2012 Jan 1; 13 (5): 2329-34.

IntroductionMany studies have reported that microRNA-21 (miR-21) mihght predict the survival outcome in non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) but the opposite opinion has also been expressed. The aim of this study was to summarize the evidence for a prognostic role of miR-21.Materials And MethodsAll the eligible studies was searched by Medline and EMBASE and patients' clinical characteristics and survival outcome were extracted. Then a meta-analysis was performed to clarify the prognostic role of the miR-21 expression in different subgroups.ResultsA total of 8 eligible articles were yielded covering survival outcomes or clinical characteristics. The combined hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for overall survival (OS) was 2.19 [0.76, 6.30], while the combined HR (95% CI) of Asian group for OS had a significant result, 5.49 [2.46, 12.27]. The combined HR (95% CI) for recurrence free survival or disease free survival (RFS/DFS) was 2.31 [1.52, 3.49]. Odds ratios (ORs) showed that the miR-21 expression was associated with lymph node status and histological type.ConclusionmiR-21 expression could predict the prognostic outcome of NSCLC in Asians, despite some deficiencies in the study data.

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