[Evaluation of (18)F-FDG PET/CT in preoperative staging of gastric cancer: a meta-analysis].

OBJECTIVE: To comprehensively evaluate the diagnostic value of (18)F-FDG PET/CT in preoperative staging. METHODS: Relevant studies published until March 31st, 2012 were identified in the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, CBM, CNKI databases. The studies were accessed according to QUADAS and the value of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio(PLR), negative likelihood ratio(NLR), AUC were pooled by MetaDisc software. RESULTS: Fifteen studies were included. (18)F-FDG PET/CT was able to identify primary tumor with overall sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR, and AUC of 0.921(0.871-0.956), 0.895(0.785-0.960), 5.12(2.69-9.73), 0.13(0.08-0.20), 0.9520, respectively. While the diagnostic performance of (18)F-FDG PET/CT for regional lymph node status was less reliable, with overall sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR, and AUC of 0.613(0.555- 0.668), 0.986(0.960-0.997), 11.68(5.52-24.73), 0.36(0.24-0.55), 0.9343 respectively. As for distant metastases, the diagnostic performance was with overall sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR, and AUC of 0.792(0.703-0.865), 0.976(0.951-0.990), 16.70(9.00-39.97), 0.26(0.18-0.39), 0.9454 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: (18)F-FDG PET/CT is valuable for preoperative staging of gastric cancer.