Table 1. Characteristics of studies included in the meta-analysis.
| Study | Year | Country | HCC/controls | Etiology | Assay type | Cut-off (ng/mL) | Sample type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King et al. [30] | 1989 | South Africa | 98/120 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Takikawa et al. [31] | 1992 | Japan | 116/512 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Plasma |
| Fujiyama et al. [32] | 1992 | Japan | 200/197 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Plasma |
| Suehiro et al. [33] | 1994 | Japan | 185/118 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Plasma |
| Grazi et al. [34] | 1995 | Italy | 111/116 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Nomura et al. [35] | 1999 | Japan | 36/49 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Sassa et al. [36] | 1999 | Japan | 61/134 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Ishii et al. [37] | 2000 | Japan | 29/705 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Cui et al. [38] | 2002 | China | 60/30 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Shimizu et al. [39] | 2002 | Japan | 56/34 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Cui et al. [40] | 2003 | China | 120/90 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Marrero et al. [41] | 2003 | USA | 55/104 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Marrero et al. [42] | 2005 | USA | 144/108 | MIX | ELISA | 99 | Serum |
| Wang et al. [43] | 2005 | China | 61/64 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Kim et al. [44] | 2006 | Korea | 62/60 | MIX | CH | 70.4 | Plasma |
| Volk et al. [45] | 2007 | USA | 84/169 | MIX | ELISA | 23 | Serum |
| Durazo et al. [46] | 2008 | USA | 144/96 | MIX | ELISA | 25 | Serum |
| Beneduce et al. [47] | 2008 | Italy | 33/31 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Wang et al. [48] | 2009 | USA | 164/113 | MIX | ELISA | NK | Serum |
| Hu et al. [49] | 2009 | China | 31/93 | HBV | ELISA | 36 | Serum |
| Marrero et al. [50] | 2009 | USA | 419/417 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Yoon et al. [51] | 2009 | Korea | 106/100 | HBV | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Sterling et al. [52] | 2009 | USA | 74/298 | HCV | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Baek et al. [53] | 2009 | Korea | 227/100 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Yamamoto et al. [54] | 2009 | Japan | 190/490 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Mao et al. [55] | 2010 | China, USA | 789/3428 | HBV | ELISA | 35 | Serum |
| Ozkan et al. [56] | 2010 | Turkey | 75/83 | MIX | ELISA | 4.36 | Serum |
| Bessa et al. [57] | 2010 | Egypt | 30/30 | HCV | ELISA | 69.5 | Plasma |
| Sharma et al. [58] | 2010 | India | 70/38 | MIX | ELISA | 13 | Serum |
| Ishida et al. [59] | 2010 | Japan | 141/143 | HCV | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Tian et al. [60] | 2011 | China | 153/219 | MIX | ELISA | 13.6 | Serum |
| Shi et al. [61] | 2011 | China | 55/107 | MIX | ELISA | 400 | Serum |
| Makarem et al. [62] | 2011 | Egypt | 113/120 | HCV | CH | 43 | Plasma |
| Morota et al. [63] | 2011 | USA | 70/34 | MIX | ELISA | 15 | Serum |
| Salem et al. [64] | 2012 | Egypt | 30/40 | HCV | ELISA | 10.4 | Serum |
| Shang-1 et al. [65] | 2012 | Thailand | 91/23 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Plasma |
| Shang-2 et al. [65] | 2012 | USA | 40/73 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Plasma |
| Yang et al. [66] | 2013 | China | 179/80 | HBV | CH | 20 | Plasma |
| Choi et al. [67] | 2013 | Korea | 90/78 | NA | ELISA | 10 | Serum |
| Ertle et al. [68] | 2013 | Germany | 164/422 | MIX | ELISA | 10 | Serum |
| Xu-1 et al. [69] | 2014 | China | 2472/578 | HBV | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Xu-2 et al. [69] | 2014 | China | 2472/578 | HBV | ELISA | 200 | Serum |
| Xu-3 et al. [69] | 2014 | China | 2472/578 | HBV | ELISA | 400 | Serum |
| Chan-1 et al. [70] | 2014 | China | 562/243 | MIX | CH | 10 | Serum |
| Chan-2 et al. [70] | 2014 | China | 562/243 | MIX | CH | 200 | Serum |
| Chan-3 et al. [70] | 2014 | China | 562/243 | MIX | CH | 500 | Serum |
| Gopal-1 et al. [71] | 2014 | USA | 452/676 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Gopal-2 et al. [71] | 2014 | USA | 452/676 | MIX | ELISA | 200 | Serum |
| Gopal-3 et al. [71] | 2014 | USA | 452/676 | MIX | ELISA | 400 | Serum |
| Lee et al. [72] | 2014 | Korea | 120/40 | MIX | ELISA | 6 | Serum |
| Nabih et al. [73] | 2014 | Egypt | 35/34 | HCV | CH | 240 | Plasma |
| Song et al. [74] | 2014 | China | 550/604 | MIX | ELISA | 21 | Serum |
| Costa et al. [75] | 2015 | France | 75/75 | HCV | ELISA | 20 | Plasma |
| Poté et al. [76] | 2015 | France | 85/43 | MIX | ELISA | 5 | Serum |
| Chang et al. [77] | 2015 | China | 363/1234 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Gani et al. [78] | 2015 | Indonesia | 59/47 | MIX | ELISA | 20.45 | Serum |
| Chimparlee et al. [79] | 2015 | Thailand | 157/170 | HBV | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Fouad et al. [80] | 2015 | Egypt | 25/25 | HCV | ELISA | 142 | Serum |
| Ge et al. [81] | 2015 | China | 89/301 | HBV | ELISA | 6.79 | Serum |
| Yu et al. [82] | 2015 | China | 134/347 | MIX | CLEIA | 20 | Serum |
| Jang et al. [83] | 2016 | Korea | 208/193 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Plasma |
| Roslyn et al. [84] | 2016 | Australia | 86/258 | MIX | CH | 20 | Serum |
| Ji et al. cohort A [85] | 2016 | China | 236/135 | HBV | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Ji et al. cohort B [85] | 2016 | China | 200/97 | HBV | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Ahn-1 et al. [86] | 2016 | Korea | 366/366 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
| Ahn-2 et al. [86] | 2016 | Korea | 366/366 | MIX | ELISA | 100 | Serum |
| Ahn-3 et al. [86] | 2016 | Korea | 366/366 | MIX | ELISA | 200 | Serum |
| Ahn-4 et al. [86] | 2016 | Korea | 366/366 | MIX | ELISA | 400 | Serum |
| Lim et al. [87] | 2016 | Korea | 361/276 | MIX | ELISA | 20 | Serum |
MIX: the etiology including HBV infection, HCV infection, alcohol and others; ELISA: enzyme immunometric assay; CH: chemiluminescence; CLEIA: chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay; NK = not known; NA: not available.