title: A meta-analysis of the diagnostic value of detecting K-ras mutation in pancreatic juice as a molecular marker for pancreatic cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  K-ras codon 12 mutation is one of the earliest genetic changes in the development of pancreatic cancer (PC) and accurate detection of K-ras mutations is gaining increasing attention in the field of molecular diagnosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Original research articles which evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of K-ras mutation detection in PC were selected. Data were presented as forest plots and summary receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to summarize the overall test performance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We assessed 16 studies from 15 published articles. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 59% (95%CI: 54%-64%) and 87% (95%CI: 84%-89%), respectively. The pooled positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio were 4.13 (95%CI: 2.73-6.25) and 0.42 (95%CI: 0.32-0.56), respectively, and the pooled diagnostic odds ratio was 13.66 (95% CI: 7.25-25.74).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that the analysis of K-ras mutations in pancreatic juice has a considerable diagnostic value in PC. Further studies with rigorous design, large sample size, and multi-regional co-operation are needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China.
authors.forename: Sainan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China.
authors.forename: Jingjing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China.
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China.
authors.forename: Kan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China; The First Clinical Medical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
authors.forename: Jianrong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China; The First Clinical Medical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
authors.forename: Wenxia
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China; The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China.
authors.forename: Yuqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China; The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China; The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China.
authors.forename: Huawei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China. Electronic address: guochuanyong@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Chuanyong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D011905:Genes, ras / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D010189:Pancreatic Juice / Q000737:chemistry*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor
keywords: Diagnostic accuracy; K-ras mutations; Meta-analysis; Molecular marker; Pancreatic cancer; Pancreatic juice