Table 3. Meta-analysis results.
| No. of studies/patient cohorts | Sensitivity | Specificity | PLR | NLR | DOR | AUC of SROC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 33 | 0.77(0.74–0.79) | 0.87(0.85–0.89) | 5.55(3.76–8.19) | 0.29(0.21–0.38) | 23.96(13.72–41.84) | 0.8992 |
| Type of CRC | |||||||
| metastatic | 24a | 0.79(0.76–0.82) | 0.88(0.86–0.90) | 5.14(3.32–7.98) | 0.26(0.19–0.35) | 29.17(17.00–50.06) | 0.9045 |
| primary | 4b | 0.57(0.41–0.72) | 0.73(0.62–0.82) | 2.08(1.25–3.44) | 0.46(0.20–1.07) | 10.81(1.00–117.04) | 0.7304 |
| Technique used for cfDNA samples | |||||||
| NGS | 15 | 0.65(0.59–0.71) | 0.88(0.85–0.91) | 5.21(3.97–6.83) | 0.38(0.28–0.52) | 14.61(9.78–21.84) | 0.8574 |
| Digital PCR | 17 | 0.81(0.78–0.85) | 0.85(0.83–0.88) | 5.51(3.02–10.07) | 0.23(0.14–0.37) | 29.18(11.79–72.25) | 0.9067 |
| NGS (Guardant360) | 4 | 0.67(0.57–0.76) | 0.92(0.86–0.96) | 8.49(4.66–15.46) | 0.35(0.26–0.47) | 22.47(10.58–47.75) | 0.8260 |
| BEAMing | 7 | 0.87(0.83–0.90) | 0.90(0.86–0.93) | 5.94(2.86–12.34) | 0.15(0.09–0.27) | 50.96(18.56–139.92) | 0.9388 |
| Digital droplet PCR | 7 | 0.71(0.64–0.78) | 0.78(0.72–0.83) | 4.37(1.66–11.53) | 0.33(0.16–0.69) | 18.20(3.45–96.00) | 0.8703 |
| Region of the study | |||||||
| Europe | 18 | 0.80(0.77–0.83) | 0.89(0.87–0.92) | 6.42(3.63–11.35) | 0.25(0.16–0.39) | 32.97(13.63–79.79) | 0.9143 |
| Asia | 11 | 0.71(0.65–0.77) | 0.81(0.77–0.85) | 4.19(2.48–7.07) | 0.31(0.19–0.53) | 13.87(7–27.48) | 0.8539 |
| America | 4 | 0.66(0.56–0.75) | 0.92(0.86–0.96) | 5.99(1.87–19.15) | 0.37(0.28–0.49) | 19.98(9.26–43.13) | 0.6545 |
| Region of studies using NGS for cfDNA samples | |||||||
| Europe | 3 | 0.64(0.44–0.81) | 0.98(0.90–1.00) | 15.59(3.57–68.07) | 0.37(0.23–0.62) | 35.79(6.76–189.46) | 0.1279 |
| Asia | 8 | 0.64(0.56–0.72) | 0.84(0.79–0.88) | 3.95(2.92–5.33) | 0.36(0.20–0.65) | 11.21(6.81–18.46) | 0.8683 |
| America | 4 | 0.66(0.56–0.75) | 0.92(0.86–0.96) | 5.99(1.87–19.15) | 0.37(0.28–0.49) | 19.98(9.26–43.13) | 0.6545 |
| Region of studies using digital PCR for cfDNA samples | |||||||
| Europe | 14 | 0.81(0.78–0.85) | 0.88(0.85–0.90) | 5.48(2.98–10.05) | 0.23(0.12–0.41) | 29.63(10.54–83.32) | 0.9119 |
| Asia | 3 | 0.82(0.73–0.90) | 0.75(0.67–0.82) | 6.59(0.78–55.14) | 0.23(0.15–0.37) | 28.33(2.87–279.59) | 0.8758 |
| Subtypes of digital PCR in studies from Europe | |||||||
| BEAMing | 7 | 0.87(0.83–0.90) | 0.90(0.86–0.93) | 5.94(2.86–12.34) | 0.15(0.09–0.27) | 50.96(18.56–139.92) | 0.9388 |
| Digital droplet PCR | 5 | 0.66(0.57–0.74) | 0.83(0.77–0.88) | 4.63(1.31–16.40) | 0.38(0.17–0.89) | 16.70(1.77–157.26) | 0.8750 |