title: Circulating tumor cells as a potential biomarker in diagnosis of lung cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Accumulating evidences demonstrated that circulating tumor cells (CTCs) show significant high concentration in plasma of lung cancer patients compared to control cohorts, suggesting that CTCs may be a promising biomarker for lung cancer. The meta-analysis was used to evaluate potential diagnostic value of CTCs in diagnosing lung cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Relevant literatures were searched in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Technology of Chongqing (VIP), and Wan Fang Data. Summary estimates were used to evaluate CTCs as the diagnostic standard for lung cancer using Meta-DiSc and STATA 12.0 statistical software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This meta-analysis included five studies with a total of 460 lung cancer patients and 239 benign controls. The sensitivity and specificity (95% confidence interval [CI]) of CTCs was 75% (95% CI: 54%-88%) and 92% (95%CI: 82%-97%), respectively. In addition, the area under the summary ROC curve (AUC) was 0.93.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CTCs is a novel potential biomarker in the diagnosis of lung cancer, and more prospective are needed in the future.
authors: Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, China.
authors: Huang
authors: H
authors: Huang
authors: Chinese Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, China.
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Shi
authors: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, China.
authors: Jietao
authors: J
authors: Huang
authors: Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, China.
authors: Xiaohui
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, China.
authors: Rui
authors: R
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, China.
authors: Hong
authors: H
authors: Chen
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D002681:China; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor
keywords: circulating tumor cells; diagnosis; lung cancer; meta-analysis