ObjectiveTo investigate the expression of circular RNA mitochondrial fusin 2 (circ-MFN2) in pancreatic cancer and analyze its correlation with clinicopathological features and prognosis.MethodsThe expressions of circ-MFN2 miRNA in 55 cases of pancreatic cancer tissues and serum were detected by qRT-PCR, and analyzed the correlation between circ-MFN2 and clinicopathological factors of pancreatic cancer and prognosis. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of expression of circ-MFN2 miRNA in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer were statistically analyzed. ROC curve was used to analyze its efficacy as a biomarker for early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.ResultsCompared with paracancerous tissues of pancreatic cancer and serum of healthy control group, circ-MFN2 miRNA was highly expressed in pancreatic cancer tissues and serum, and the difference were all statistically significant (all P<0.05). Chi square test showed that the expression of circ-MFN2 miRNA in pancreatic cancer tissues was not related to age, gender, tumor size, pathological type, and tumor site (P>0.05), but was significantly related to CA19-9 level, TNM stage, tumor differentiation and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of expression of circ-MFN2 miRNA for pancreatic cancer were 72.7%, 70.9% and 83.6% respectively, which were all higher than that of CA19-9 (54.5%, 50.9% and 52.7%, P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the median survival time of pancreatic cancer patients with high expression of circ-MFN2 miRNA was significantly shorter than that of patients with low expression (9.1 months vs 22.3 months, P<0.05). The area under ROC curve of circ-MFN2 miRNA as a serum biomarker for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer was 0.861 [95%CI (0.775, 1.157), P=0.000]. Cox multivariate analysis showed that the expression of cirC-MFN2 miRNA and lymph node metastasis were independent risk factors for the prognosis of pancreatic cancer patients.ConclusionsCirc-MFN2 miRNA is highly expressed in pancreatic cancer tissues, and it is related to the clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients. It is expected to be a new molecular marker to predict the prognosis of pancreatic cancer.