title: Assessment of the potential diagnostic role of anaplastic lymphoma kinase for inflammatory myofibroblastic tumours: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the value of anaplastic lymphoma kinase for the diagnosis of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumours using a comprehensive meta-analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched the related literature using electronic databases and manual searches. Approximately 454 cases from several countries were included in this analysis. The quality of studies included was assessed by QUADAS (quality assessment of studies of diagnostic accuracy). The diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), sensitivity and specificity were calculated to assess the role of anaplastic lymphoma kinase in the diagnosis of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumours. The overall test performance was summarised by an SROC (summary receiver operating characteristic curve). The heterogeneity and publication bias were analysed using Meta-regression and Deeks' test. All data were analysed by Stata 12.0 software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eight studies were included according to our inclusion criteria. The overall results for the specificity, sensitivity, PLR, NLR, DOR and area under the curve (AUC) were 0.99 (95% CI 0.82-1.00), 0.67 (95% CI 0.46-0.83), 0.67 (95% CI 0.46-0.83), 60.6 (95% CI 3.3-1112.4), 0.33 (95% CI 0.19-0.60), 181 (95% CI 9-3684) and 0.95 (95% CI 0.93-0.97), respectively, while the specificity, sensitivity, PLR, NLR, DOR and AUC for bladder IMTs were 0.99 (95% CI 0.67-1.00), 0.86 (95% CI 0.58-0.96), 95.6 (95% CI 2.0-4616.2), 0.14 (95% CI 0.04-0.50), 671 (95% CI 16-28913) and 0.99 (95% CI 0.97-0.99), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present meta-analysis indicated that anaplastic lymphoma kinase plays a significant role in the differential diagnosis of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumours, particularly for inflammatory myofibroblastic tumours of the urinary bladder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Shuiqing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Neural Medical Center of the First Hospital in Changsha City, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Hongyi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Xiaokun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000077548:Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase; D019540:Area Under Curve; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D058628:Myofibroblasts / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009379:Neoplasms, Muscle Tissue / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012372:ROC Curve; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: C000626173:ALK protein, human; D000077548:Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases