Background Human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) measurements in serum have been proposed for improving the specificity of laboratory identification of ovarian cancer (OC). Objective. To critically revise the available literature on the comparison between the diagnostic accuracy of HE4 and carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA-125) to confirm the additional clinical value of HE4. Methods A literature search was undertaken on electronic databases and references from retrieved articles; articles were analysed according to predefined criteria. Meta-analyses for HE4 and CA-125 biomarkers with OR, diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive (LR+) and negative (LR-) likelihood ratios as effect sizes were performed. Results 16 articles were originally included in meta-analyses, but two for HE4 and one for CA-125 were eliminated as outliers. Furthermore, for HE4 a publication bias was detected. ORs for both HE4 (37.2, 95% CI 19.0 to 72.7, adjusted for publication bias) and CA-125 (15.4, 95% CI 10.4 to 22.8) were significant, although in a heterogeneous set of studies (p<0.0001). By combining sensitivity and specificity, the overall LR+ and LR- were 13.0 (95% CI 8.2 to 20.7) and 0.23 (95% CI 0.19 to 0.28) for HE4 and 4.2 (95% CI 3.1 to 5.6) and 0.27 (95% CI 0.23 to 0.31) for CA-125, respectively. Conclusions: HE4 measurement seems to be superior to CA-125 in terms of diagnostic performance for identification of OC in women with suspected gynaecological disease. Due to the high prevalence of OC in post-menopausal women and the need for data focused on early tumour stages, more studies tailored on these specific subsets are needed.

Serum human epididymis protein 4 vs carbohydrate antigen 125 for ovarian cancer diagnosis : a systematic review / S. Ferraro, F. Braga, M. Lanzoni, P. Boracchi, E.M. Biganzoli, M. Panteghini. - In: JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PATHOLOGY. - ISSN 0021-9746. - 66:4(2013), pp. 273-281. [10.1136/jclinpath-2012-201031]

Serum human epididymis protein 4 vs carbohydrate antigen 125 for ovarian cancer diagnosis : a systematic review

F. Braga;M. Lanzoni;P. Boracchi;E.M. Biganzoli
Penultimo
;
M. Panteghini
Ultimo
2013

Abstract

Background Human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) measurements in serum have been proposed for improving the specificity of laboratory identification of ovarian cancer (OC). Objective. To critically revise the available literature on the comparison between the diagnostic accuracy of HE4 and carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA-125) to confirm the additional clinical value of HE4. Methods A literature search was undertaken on electronic databases and references from retrieved articles; articles were analysed according to predefined criteria. Meta-analyses for HE4 and CA-125 biomarkers with OR, diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive (LR+) and negative (LR-) likelihood ratios as effect sizes were performed. Results 16 articles were originally included in meta-analyses, but two for HE4 and one for CA-125 were eliminated as outliers. Furthermore, for HE4 a publication bias was detected. ORs for both HE4 (37.2, 95% CI 19.0 to 72.7, adjusted for publication bias) and CA-125 (15.4, 95% CI 10.4 to 22.8) were significant, although in a heterogeneous set of studies (p<0.0001). By combining sensitivity and specificity, the overall LR+ and LR- were 13.0 (95% CI 8.2 to 20.7) and 0.23 (95% CI 0.19 to 0.28) for HE4 and 4.2 (95% CI 3.1 to 5.6) and 0.27 (95% CI 0.23 to 0.31) for CA-125, respectively. Conclusions: HE4 measurement seems to be superior to CA-125 in terms of diagnostic performance for identification of OC in women with suspected gynaecological disease. Due to the high prevalence of OC in post-menopausal women and the need for data focused on early tumour stages, more studies tailored on these specific subsets are needed.
MALIGNANCY ALGORITHM ; BIOMARKER PANELS ; TUMOR-MARKERS ; HE-4 ; CA125 ; CARCINOMA ; BENIGN ; RECURRENCE ; ACCURACY ; DISEASES
Settore MED/01 - Statistica Medica
Settore BIO/12 - Biochimica Clinica e Biologia Molecolare Clinica
2013
Article (author)
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
ferraro273.full.pdf

accesso riservato

Tipologia: Publisher's version/PDF
Dimensione 433.18 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
433.18 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/218306
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 45
  • Scopus 160
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 142
social impact