Guo C, Mi J, Li H, et al. - Findings demonstrate promising utility of circular RNAs (circRNAs) as molecular biomarkers for the early diagnosis as well as prognosis monitoring of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

• A meta-analysis of 12 relevant studies comprising 769 ESCC patients was conducted to assess the links between circRNA expressions and clinicopathologic features as well as the diagnostic and prognostic values of circRNAs in ESCC.

• In ESCC, abnormal expressions of circRNAs were linked with TNM stage as well as lymph node and distant metastases.

• In differentiating ESCC cases from healthy controls, a combined sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the curve of 0.78, 0.79, and 0.86, respectively, were afforded by circRNA.

• Shorter overall survival (OS) was observed in relation to upregulated oncogenic circRNA levels in ESCC tissues (hazard ratios HR were 2.25 and 2.50 in univariate and multivariate analyses, respectively).

• Significant amelioration in OS was noted with overexpressions of tumor-suppressive circRNAs (HR = 0.29).

• Robust results were documented in subgroup analyses based on circRNA biofunctions, sample size, and reference gene.