Prognostic role of lncRNA HOTAIR in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Background: HOX transcript antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) may be implicated in cancer development and progression. Clinical studies have suggested that HOTAIR may be related to poor prognosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). This study was designed to clarify the prognostic role of HOTAIR in ESCC.

Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases were searched to identify studies evaluating the prognostic significance of HOTAIR in ESCC. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS), lymph node metastasis (LNM), and cancer stage were calculated using fixed-effects/random-effects models.

Results: A total of 510 patients from five studies were included. Meta-analysis revealed that high HOTAIR expression was significantly correlated with poor OS (HR, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.80-3.11; P<0.00001) and positive LNM (RR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.07-3.60; P=0.03).

Conclusion: Elevated lncRNA HOTAIR indicated a poor prognosis for patients with ESCC, and it may also have predictive potential for ESCC metastasis.