Appraising growth differentiation factor 15 as a promising biomarker in digestive system tumors: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have highlighted cytokine growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) as a potential biomarker for digestive system tumors (DST). This study sought to assess the feasibility of using GDF-15 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in DST. METHODS: Eligible studies from multiple online databases were reviewed. Meta-analyses of diagnostic parameters were carried out using standard statistical methods. Study-specific hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to estimate the strength of the relationship between GDF-15 levels and clinical prognosis. RESULTS: We identified 17 eligible studies comprising 3966 patients with DST. The sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) for the discriminative performance of GDF-15 as a diagnostic biomarker were 0.74 (95% CI: 0.68–0.80), 0.83 (95% CI: 0.75–0.89), and 0.84, respectively. Moreover, increased GDF-15 expression levels were markedly associated with unfavorable overall survival (OS) in patients with DST (HR = 2.34, 95% CI: 2.03–2.70, P < 0.001; I(2) = 0.0%) and colorectal cancer (CRC) (HR = 2.27, 95% CI: 1.96–2.63, P < 0.001; I(2) = 0.0%). Stratification by cancer type, test matrix, ethnicity, and cut-off setting also illustrated the robustness of the diagnostic value of GDF-15 in DST. CONCLUSION: Collectively, our data suggest that GDF-15 expression level may have value as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker, independent of other, traditional biomarkers. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-019-5385-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.