miRNA-143 as a potential biomarker in the detection of bladder cancer: a meta-analysis

<b>Aim:</b> This study aimed to systematically evaluate the value of miRNA-143 in the early detection of bladder cancer (BCa). <b>Methods:</b> CNKI, WanFang, PubMed and Wiley Online Library databases were explored according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses protocol. A random-effects model was used to obtain pooled sensitivity, specificity and other related indicates. <b>Results:</b> Six studies were included for analysis. The overall pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.80 (95% CI: 0.74–0.85) and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.78–0.91), and the area under the curve was 0.88 (95% CI: 0.85–0.91). Coupled with miR-100, it showed better diagnostic power (area under the curve: 0.95). <b>Conclusion:</b> miRNA-143 may serve as a promising noninvasive tool for the early detection of BCa. Bladder cancer (BCa) is a common and deadly malignant tumor worldwide; however, noninvasive diagnosis can significantly improve the prognosis of patients. Recently, miRNAs have emerged as potential diagnostic biomarkers for BCa. Among them, miRNA-143 has shown promising results in several studies. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the overall diagnostic accuracy of miRNA-143 for BCa through a systematic review and meta-analysis of six published articles. Excitingly, the results of this meta-analysis suggest that miRNA-143 has potential diagnostic value in BCa. Particularly, miRNA-143 combined with miRNA-100 maintained better competence. Besides, miRNA-143 in plasma exhibited better diagnostic strength than that in urine. The authors believe that their study provides valuable insights into the use of miRNA-143 as a diagnostic biomarker for BCa. This study confirmed the promising diagnostic performance of miRNA-143 using meta-analysis. miRNA-143 had more potential for diagnosing bladder cancer (BCa) within Asian populations. The heterogeneity based on ethnicities might be the result of the single nucleotide polymorphisms of the <i>PAI-1</i> gene. miRNA-143 in plasma performed better compared with that in urine. Specific proteins in plasma might help isolate the miRNA-143 and improve its diagnostic performance. miRNA-143 coupled with miRNA-100 showed the best diagnostic performance among various combinations. More studies only focus between healthy population and non-muscle-invasive BCa or muscle-invasive BCa patients and healthy are demanding. Ununified screening protocols for miRNA-143 hinder the verification of its actual diagnostic value.