Diagnostic accuracy of K-ras mutation for pancreatic carcinoma:a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND:The conventional tests for the diagnosis of early stage pancreatic carcinoma are not acceptable.This metaanalysis is to evaluate the accuracy of K-ras mutation for the diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma.DATA SOURCES:A systemic search of all relevant literature was performed in Web of Science,EMBASE,Cochrane Database,and MEDLINE(PubMed as the search engine) prior to June 1,2011.Thirty-four studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and data were pooled for analysis.RESULTS:The pooled estimates for K-ras mutation in diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma were as follows:sensitivity 0.68(95% CI:0.66-0.71),specificity 0.87(95% CI:0.85-0.88),positive likelihood ratio 4.54(95% CI:3.47-5.94),negative likelihood ratio 0.37(95% CI:0.30-0.44) and diagnostic odds ratio 14.90(95% CI:10.02-22.15).Summary receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated that the maximum joint sensitivity and specificity was 0.79,and the overall area under the curve was 0.86.CONCLUSIONS:Diagnostic accuracy of K-ras mutation was not superior to that of conventional tests.Therefore,K-ras mutation analysis alone is not recommended for the diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma.