Meta-Analysis of Serum Gastrin-Releasing Peptide Precursor as a Biomarker for Diagnosis of Small Cell Lung Cancer

Background: The serum level of gastrin-releasing peptide precursor (proGRP) is generally. elevated in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). However, the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of serum proGRP in SCLC cases remains controversial. The study aimed to assess the diagnostic value of this biomarker by meta-analysis. Materials and Methods: The Cochrane, Clinical trials, Pubmed, Web of Science and Embase databases were searched and diagnostic values were calculated or extracted. Statistical analysis was accomplished with RevMan 5.3 and STATA 12.0 software. Results: A total of 27 studies with 7268 participants were included. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR and DOR were 0.754 (95% CI: 0.700-0.802), 0.945 (95% CI: 0.916-0.965), 13.804 (95% CI: 9.096-20.948), 0.260 (95% CI: 0.213-0.317) and 53.101 (95% CI: 34.327-82.145) respectively. The AUC was 0.910 (95% CI: 0.880-0.930). Significant publication bias was not found (P =0.622). Conclusions: The meta-analysis indicated that serum proGRP is indeed a useful biomarker with good sensitivity and high specificity for diagnosis of SCLC. Therefore proGRP can be expected to be widely applied in the clinic for identification of lung cancer patients.