The Potential Use of Salivary miRNAs as Promising Biomarkers for Detection of Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

PLoS One. 2016 Nov 10;11(11):e0166303. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166303. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Background: Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) could serve as promising molecular biomarkers for cancer detection. This study aims to systematically assess the diagnostic performance of salivary miRNAs in detection of cancer through a comprehensive meta-analysis.

Methods: Eligible studies were identified using PubMed and other computerized databases up to October 31, 2015, supplemented by a manual search of references from retrieved articles. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and other measurements of accuracy of salivary miRNAs in the diagnosis of cancer were analyzed using the bivariate binomial mixed model.

Results: Seventeen studies from 8 articles with 694 subjects were included in this meta-analysis. All studies have a relatively high score of quality assessment. The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of salivary miRNAs in detection of cancer were 0.77 (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 0.69-0.84), 0.77 (95%CI: 0.65-0.88), 3.37 (95%CI: 2.26-5.02), 0.29 (95%CI: 0.23-0.38), and 11.41 (95%CI: 7.35-17.73), respectively. The AUC was 0.84 (95%CI: 0.80-0.87). Moreover, both whole saliva and saliva supernatant could be used as sources of clinical specimens for miRNAs detection.

Conclusions: Our meta-analysis demonstrated that salivary miRNAs may serve as potential noninvasive biomarkers for cancer detection. The findings need to be confirmed with further research before it can be applied in the clinic.

Publication types

  • Meta-Analysis

MeSH terms

  • Biomarkers, Tumor / analysis
  • Humans
  • Likelihood Functions
  • MicroRNAs / analysis*
  • Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Odds Ratio
  • Saliva / chemistry*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • MicroRNAs

Grants and funding

This work was partly supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81473056, 81573224 and 30901239), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (7132023) and the Importation and Development of High Caliber Talents Project of Beijing Municipal Institutions to FL (CIT&TCD201404183). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.