A meta-analysis of the diagnostic value of detecting K-ras mutation in pancreatic juice as a molecular marker for pancreatic cancer.

Background: K-ras codon 12 mutation is one of the earliest genetic changes in the development of pancreatic cancer (PC) and accurate detection of K-ras mutations is gaining increasing attention in the field of molecular diagnosis.

Methods: Original research articles which evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of K-ras mutation detection in PC were selected. Data were presented as forest plots and summary receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to summarize the overall test performance.

Results: We assessed 16 studies from 15 published articles. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 59% (95%CI: 54%-64%) and 87% (95%CI: 84%-89%), respectively. The pooled positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio were 4.13 (95%CI: 2.73-6.25) and 0.42 (95%CI: 0.32-0.56), respectively, and the pooled diagnostic odds ratio was 13.66 (95% CI: 7.25-25.74).

Conclusions: Our results indicate that the analysis of K-ras mutations in pancreatic juice has a considerable diagnostic value in PC. Further studies with rigorous design, large sample size, and multi-regional co-operation are needed.