regex-template-literal.js

var _ = require('lodash')

function regex (strings, ...args) {
  return new RegExp(String.raw(strings, ...args.map(_.escapeRegExp)))
}

var needle = '1*'

console.log('21111112'.match(regex`2${needle}2`)) // falsy
console.log('2221*1*222'.match(regex`2(${needle})+2`)) // truthy

You can use template-literals to dynamically create regular expressions and escape the dynamic parts.
This is much more readable then new RegExp('2('+_.escapeRegExp(needle)+')+2')