Diagnostic value of fibulin-3 for malignant pleural mesothelioma: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Several studies have investigated the diagnostic value of fibulin-3 for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), but the results were various. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the diagnostic value of fibulin-3 for MPM. RESULTS: Eight studies were included in this work. The overall sensitivity of blood fibulin-3 were 0.87 (95% CI, 0.58 – 0.97) and 0.89 (95% CI, 0.77 – 0.95), respectively. The overall sensitivity and specificity of PF fibulin-3 for MPM were 0.73 (95% CI, 0.54 – 0.86) and 0.80 (95% CI, 0.60 – 0.91), respectively. The area under curve of blood and pleural effusion (PF) Fibulin-3 were 0.94 (95% CI, 0.91 – 0.96) 0.83 (95% CI, 0.79 – 0.86), respectively. METHODS: PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched up to July 29, 2016 to verify studies investigating the diagnostic value of fibulin-3 for MPM. The quality of eligible studies was assessed using the revised Quality Assessment for Studies of Diagnostic Accuracy tool (QUADAS-2). The overall sensitivity and specificity were pooled using a bivariate model. CONCLUSION: Fibuoin-3 is a useful diagnostic marker for MPM.