Diagnostic value of pro-gastrin-releasing peptide for small cell lung cancer: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Lung cancer, of which 15%-20% is small cell lung cancer, is the leading cause of cancer mortality and shows a high incidence worldwide. While pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (ProGRP) has been reported as a predictive diagnostic factor, it has not been widely accepted because of inconsistent conclusions. The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate ProGRP as the diagnostic standard for small cell lung cancer. All published studies on ProGRP in the diagnosis of small cell lung cancer from January 1994 to April of 2010 were retrieved. By measuring methodological qualities, 11 papers were selected for this study. The overall diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve were used to evaluate ProGRP as the diagnostic standard for small cell lung cancer using Meta DiSc statistical software. There were 5146 subjects included in this meta-analysis. The sensitivity and specificity (95% confidence interval) of ProGRP was 0.716 (0.688-0.743) and 0.921 (0.909-0.932), respectively. The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve of ProGRP was 0.9236. The index of Q* was 0.8575. ProGRP has better sensitivity and high specificity as an auxiliary indicator for the diagnosis of small cell lung cancer.