Abstract:
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a global health problem with a great individual heterogeneity of prognostic outcome. In the past few years, numerous studies have been published on the potential of ferroptosis-related markers in predicting the survival of patients with CRC. There is a need for a meta-analysis to integrate the outcomes of published studies and determine the prognostic value of ferroptosis-related markers in patients with CRC. We conducted a comprehensive database review using PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases from their inception until June 2024 for studies reporting data on the relationship between ferroptosis-related genes and Long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) expression and overall survival (OS) of CRC patients. Random‐effects models with hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals were applied in the meta-analysis to quantify the prognostic value of each ferroptosis-related candidate gene or lncRNA. Moreover, enrichment analysis was performed to predict the potential biological processes and signaling pathways associated with candidate genes and LncRNAs. A total of 83 publications and 220 reports consisting of 78 reports associated with 12 ferroptosis-related genes and 142 reports associated with 17 ferroptosis-related LncRNAs were included in the current meta-analysis. 11 including CDKN2A, SLC2A3, NOX4, CRYAB, ALOX12, HSPB1, AKR1C1, FDFT1, NOS2, HMGCR, and ATP5MC3, as well as 16 ferroptosis-related LncRNAs including LINC02381, ZEB1-AS1, AL161729.4, AP003555.1, LINC00174, ZKSCAN2-DT, AC008760.1, AP006621.2, AC010973.2, AP001469, AC011462.4, LINC01857, ITGB1-DT, AC073283.1, AC003101.2, and AC099850.3 were identified to have a significant prognostic value in CRC patients. The present meta-analysis highlights the importance of ferroptosis-related markers in the clinical management of patients with CRC and provides 27 prognostic markers that could be applied as a panel in the future or be added to the current clinical prognostic models.
Keywords: Prognosis, Colorectal cancer, Ferroptosis, Genes, Long non-coding RNAs.
2025- Network Modeling Analysis in Health Informatics and Bioinformatics
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13721-025-00503-7