title: Role of MALAT1 as a Prognostic Factor for Survival in Various Cancers: A Systematic Review of the Literature with Meta-Analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The expression of metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1), a highly abundant and ubiquitously expressed long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), influences clinical parameters and may have prognostic value in cancer. This meta-analysis evaluated the prognostic role of MALAT1 in various cancers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Systematic literature searches of PubMed and EMBASE databases were conducted for eligible studies of the prognostic role of MALAT1 in cancer. Overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS), and disease-free survival (DFS) were analyzed. Summary hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were assessed to evaluate the influence of MALAT1 expression on patient prognosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nine studies with a total of 932 patients were included in the analysis. Elevated MALAT1 expression was significantly correlated with poor OS (HR 2.02; 95% CI: 1.62-2.52; P < 0.001; I(2) = 0%). Subgroup analysis indicated that tumor type, histology type, ethnicity, and measurement technique did not affect the prognostic value of MALAT1 for OS. The HR of elevated MALAT1 for DFS was 2.78 (95% CI: 1.87-4.15; P < 0.001; I(2) = 0%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Elevated MALAT1 expression is correlated with poor OS in various types of cancer, suggesting that this gene is a prognostic factor for different types of cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Niu
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C557041:MALAT1 long non-coding RNA, human; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding