Meta-analysis of PET/CT Detect Lymph Nodes Metastases of Cervical Cancer

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic value of PET/CT for metastatic lymph nodes in cervical cancer patients. METHODS: Searching in the databases including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar about non-invasive modalities for detecting lymph nodes metastases during 2000~2017. Following further screening, the extracted effective data were calculated by Meta-Disc 1.4 software, such as sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SPE), positive likelihood (LR+), and negative likelihood ratio (LR-). RESULTS: we obtained 27 articles. The pooled estimates for sensitivity of PET/CT were 0.72 (95% CI, [0.69, 0.75]); for specificity were 0.96 (95% CI, [0.96, 0.97]). Its weighted AUC was 0.93. CONCLUSION: PET/CT remains to be an effective method for diagnosis of metastatic lymph nodes from cervical cancer.