Expression of Concern: Comparison of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT and DWI for detection of mediastinal nodal metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer: A meta-analysis

After this article was published, similarities were noted between this article [1, 2] and submissions by other research groups which call into question the validity and provenance of the reported results.

In response to queries about these concerns, the first author provided the underlying data in S1-S3 Files.

The authors commented on aspects of how data were collected and analyzed for this study, but overall their responses did not fully resolve the concerns.

The PLOS ONE Editors issue this Expression of Concern to notify readers of the unresolved concerns discussed above, and to provide the data received from the authors.

Supporting information

S1 File. The underlying data used for the analysis in this article [1].

(ZIP)

S2 File. The underlying data used for the analysis in this article [1].

(DOCX)

S3 File. Excel spreadsheet for Table 1 in [1].

Includes first author/publication year, design (including retrospective/prospective design), country, consecutive enrollment, mean age, number of patients and lesions, blindness, true positive, false positive, false negative, and true negative, technique characteristics, image interpretation (who interpreted the images), diagnostic approach (Analysis method in Table 1- including quantitative analysis (SUV, ADC, LMR, LSR), qualitative analysis (visual evaluation), or both), and standard reference (including histopathological findings, with or without clinical follow-up).

(XLSX)