title: Diagnostic accuracy of serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen and squamous cell carcinoma antigen-immunoglobulin M for hepatocellular carcinoma: A meta-analysis.
abstract: A number of individual studies have evaluated the diagnostic efficiency of serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) and SCCA-immunoglobulin (IgM) for diagnosing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the results have been conflicting. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of serum SCCA and SCCA-IgM for HCC. A systematic review of related studies was conducted and relevant data on the accuracy of serum SCCA and SCCA-IgM in the diagnosis of HCC were pooled using random-effects models. Summary receiver operating characteristic curve (SROC) analysis was used to summarize the overall test performance. A total of 12 studies were included in our meta-analysis. The summary estimates for serum SCCA and SCCA-IgM for HCC diagnosis in the included studies were as follows: Sensitivity = 0.59 (95% CI: 0.56-0.62) vs. 0.60 (95% CI: 0.56-0.63); specificity = 0.76 (95% CI: 0.73-0.79) vs. 0.70 (95% CI: 0.67-0.73); diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) = 6.68 (95% CI: 3.71-12.03) vs. 7.32 (95% CI: 3.31-16.15); and area under the SROC curve = 0.7826 vs. 0.7955. Therefore, SCCA and SCCA-IgM exhibited moderate diagnostic accuracy for HCC. Due to the design limitations, the results of published studies should be interpreted with caution. In addition, well-designed studies including larger sample sizes should be conducted to rigorously evaluate the diagnostic value of SCCA and SCCA-IgM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, Zhejiang 323000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, Zhejiang 323000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chuxiao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, Zhejiang 323000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qingyun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yimin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, Zhejiang 323000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jinde
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, Zhejiang 323000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chaoyong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tu
keywords: diagnosis; hepatocellular carcinoma; meta-analysis; squamous cell carcinoma antigen; squamous cell carcinoma antigen-immunoglobulin M