title: CEA in breast ductal secretions as a promising biomarker for the diagnosis of breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Other studies have shown that levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in breast ductal secretions (BDS) differ significantly between breast cancer (BC) patients and healthy individuals, providing direct evidence for CEA in BDS as a promising biomarker for BC. This meta-analysis was designed to assess the potential diagnostic value of CEA in BDS.
  
  
  METHODS
  Relevant articles were retrieved from Embase, Pubmed, and the Cochrane Library. Sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of CEA in BDS for diagnosing BC were pooled using random effects models. SROC and the area under the curve (AUC) were used to estimate overall diagnostic performance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This meta-analysis comprised five studies with a total of 340 BC patients and 448 healthy controls. For CEA in BDS, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, and DOR to diagnose BC were 58 % [95 % confidence interval (CI): 52-63 %], 87 % (95 % CI: 84-90 %), and 7.07 (95 % CI: 3.10-16.12), respectively. Moreover, the AUC of CEA in the diagnosis of BC was 0.8570.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CEA in BDS is a promising biomarker in the diagnosis of BC and should be evaluated as a standard screening tool upon verification of our results in a larger study population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, No. 32, Jie-Fang-Bei Rd, Cheng-Zhong District, Liuzhou, Guangxi, China. 524908210@qq.com.
authors.forename: Shifu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, No. 32, Jie-Fang-Bei Rd, Cheng-Zhong District, Liuzhou, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Yifan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, No. 32, Jie-Fang-Bei Rd, Cheng-Zhong District, Liuzhou, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, No. 32, Jie-Fang-Bei Rd, Cheng-Zhong District, Liuzhou, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Shengbo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, No. 32, Jie-Fang-Bei Rd, Cheng-Zhong District, Liuzhou, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Renqi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, No. 32, Jie-Fang-Bei Rd, Cheng-Zhong District, Liuzhou, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Yiyong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Jianqing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D019540:Area Under Curve; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D012634:Bodily Secretions / Q000378:metabolism; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016017:Odds Ratio
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen
keywords: Breast cancer; Breast ductal secretions; Carcinoembryonic antigen; Diagnosis; Meta-analysis