Diagnostic performance of magnetic beads-based matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: A meta-analysis

This study aimed to assess the overall diagnostic accuracy of magnetic beads-based matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MB-based MALDI-TOF MS) in identifying esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The PubMed/Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, Google Scholar, China National Knowledge Infrastructure database and Wanfang Med Online were searched for potential studies up to 30 January 2018. Articles were screened manually on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratio or other indices reflecting the diagnostic accuracy of MB-based MALDI-TOF MS for ESCC were pooled and calculated. 16 studies involving 1 006 individuals were included. The values of pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR) and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were 0.95 (95% CI: 0.90–0.98), 0.94 (95% CI: 0.90–0.96), 15.45 (95% CI: 8.93–26.72), 0.05 (95% CI: 0.03–0.10), 295.04 (95% CI: 103.79–838.71), respectively. The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was 0.98. In conclusion, MB-based MALDI-TOF MS could be an effective technique with high diagnostic accuracy for ESCC.