Huo 2007.
| Study characteristics | |||
| Patient Sampling | Quote: "Between April 1996 and January 2001, 248 consecutive patients who underwent curative surgical resection for HCC in our institution were included as the index patients in this study." Age range not reported. Males 73% |
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| Patient characteristics and setting | Quote: "Between April 1996 and January 2001, 248 consecutive patients who underwent curative surgical resection for HCC in our institution were included as the index patients in this study. Their clinical and pathological profiles were prospectively collected and retrospectively analysed." | ||
| Index tests | Serum AFP levels were measured by using a radioimmunoassay kit (ELSA2‐AFP, CIS, Cedex, France) at the time of diagnosis. | ||
| Target condition and reference standard(s) | |||
| Flow and timing | No information on interval between index test and reference standard | ||
| Comparative | |||
| Notes | No conflicts of interest declared | ||
| Methodological quality | |||
| Item | Authors' judgement | Risk of bias | Applicability concerns |
| DOMAIN 1: Patient Selection | |||
| Was a consecutive or random sample of patients enrolled? | Yes | ||
| Was a case‐control design avoided? | No | ||
| Did the study avoid inappropriate exclusions? | Yes | ||
| Could the selection of patients have introduced bias? | High risk | ||
| Are there concerns that the included patients and setting do not match the review question? | High | ||
| DOMAIN 2: Index Test (AFP) | |||
| Were the index test results interpreted without knowledge of the results of the reference standard? | Unclear | ||
| If a threshold was used, was it pre‐specified? | No | ||
| Could the conduct or interpretation of the index test have introduced bias? | Unclear risk | ||
| Are there concerns that the index test, its conduct, or interpretation differ from the review question? | Low concern | ||
| DOMAIN 2: Index Test (US+AFP) | |||
| DOMAIN 2: Index Test (US) | |||
| DOMAIN 3: Reference Standard | |||
| Is the reference standards likely to correctly classify the target condition? | Yes | ||
| Were the reference standard results interpreted without knowledge of the results of the index tests? | Unclear | ||
| Could the reference standard, its conduct, or its interpretation have introduced bias? | Unclear risk | ||
| Are there concerns that the target condition as defined by the reference standard does not match the question? | Low concern | ||
| DOMAIN 4: Flow and Timing | |||
| Was there an appropriate interval between index test and reference standard? | Yes | ||
| Did all patients receive the same reference standard? | Yes | ||
| Were all patients included in the analysis? | Yes | ||
| Could the patient flow have introduced bias? | Low risk | ||