Abstract:
Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of PET/CT for metastatic lymph nodes in cervical cancer patients by Meta-analysis. Methods We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Embase.com, VIP, CNKI, Wangfang databases, and CBM from inception to July 11, 2013 to identify relative studies of PET/CT for metastatic lymph nodes in cervical cancer patients. Study selection and data extraction were performed by two independent reviewers, and quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS) items were used to evaluate the quality of included studies. Meta-disc 1.4 and Stata12.0 software were used to synthesize the data, such as sensitivity(SEN), specificity(SPE), positive likelihood ratio(+LR), negative likelihood ratio(-LR), diagnosis odds ration(DOR), etc., for heterogeneity test, to draw summary receiver operating characteristic(SROC) and calculate the area under the curve(AUR). Results A total of 26 studies met the eligible criteria, 23 studies for English and 3 studies for Chinese. Meta-analysis results showed that SEN, SPE, +LR, -LR, DOR, AUR, pre-test probability, and post-test probability of PET/CT for metastatic lymph nodes in patients with cervical cancer were 0.73(95%CI: 0.70-0.76), 0.96(95%
CI:0.95-0.96), 7.86(95%
CI: 5.30-11.65), 0.35(95%
CI: 0.28-0.45), 31.63(95%
CI: 17.17-58.25), 0.92(95%
CI:0.89-0.94), 20%, and 73%, respectively. Conclusion A moderate sensitivity and higher specificity were found in PET/CT for metastatic lymph nodes in patients with cervical cancer. PET/CT could be used as one of the effective diagnostic techniques to diagnose metastatic lymph nodes from cervical cancer.