==== Front Thorac CancerThorac Cancer10.1111/(ISSN)1759-7714TCAThoracic Cancer1759-77061759-7714John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd Melbourne 10.1111/1759-7714.12783TCA12783Original ArticleOriginal Articles P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation as a biomarker for the diagnosis of non‐small cell lung cancer: An updated meta‐analysis P16INK4a promoter methylation in NSCLCL. Tuo et al.Tuo Lei http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2440-4889 1 Sha Sha 1 Huayu Zhang 2 Du Ke 511hwkj@sohu.com 3 1 Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Weifang Yidu Central Hospital Qingzhou Weifang China 2 Department of Spine and Trauma Weifang Yidu Central Hospital Qingzhou Weifang China 3 Department of Thoracic Surgery Liaocheng People's Hospital Liaocheng Clinical School of Taishan Medical University Liaocheng China * Correspondence Ke Du, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Liaocheng People's Hospital Liaocheng Clinical School of Taishan Medical University, 67 Dongchang West Road, Liaocheng, Shandong 252000, China. Tel: +86 536 3275 653 Fax: +86 536 3279 421 Email: 511hwkj@sohu.com 21 6 2018 8 2018 9 8 10.1111/tca.2018.9.issue-81032 1040 16 4 2018 14 5 2018 14 5 2018 © 2018 The Authors. Thoracic Cancer published by China Lung Oncology Group and John Wiley & Sons Australia, LtdThis is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.Background This meta‐analysis was conducted to investigate the diagnostic performance of P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation as a biomarker of non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Two reviewers independently searched the Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Chinese Biomedical Literature databases. Publications relevant to P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation in serum or bronchoalveolar fluid/sputum were screened and included in this meta‐analysis. Pooled diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and symmetric receiver operating characteristic curve were calculated. Results Twenty‐six publications with 1768 lung cancer cases and 1323 controls were included. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios, and diagnostic odds ratio were 0.46 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.43–0.48), 0.90 (95% CI 0.88–0.91), 6.33 (95% CI 3.89–10.30), 0.57 (95% CI 0.50–0.65) and 10.72 (95% CI 6.94–16.56), respectively, for P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation as a biomarker for the diagnosis of NSCLC. The area under the symmetric receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.75 with a standard error of 0.004. No publication bias was detected via line regression test (t = 0.95; P = 0.35) and Begg's funnel plot. Conclusion P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation detection in serum or bronchoalveolar fluid/sputum may be a potential biomarker for NSCLC diagnosis; however, the sensitivity was relatively low, which is not suitable for NSCLC screening. Aberrant methylationbronchoalveolar fluidmeta‐analysisP16INK4a geneserum source-schema-version-number2.0component-idtca12783cover-dateAugust 2018details-of-publishers-convertorConverter:WILEY_ML3GV2_TO_NLMPMC version:version=5.4.4 mode:remove_FC converted:01.08.2018 ==== Body Introduction Non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most common clinically diagnosed malignant carcinomas. It is estimated that 234 030 new cases and 154 050 deaths from NSCLC will occur in the United States in 2018.1 The general prognosis of NSCLC is poor, particularly in advanced‐stage patients, with an extremely low five‐year survival rate. One of the major reasons for this poor prognosis is the lack of effective lung cancer screening or early diagnostic methods.2 Several studies have evaluated lung cancer screening methods such as X‐ray,3, 4 sputum cytology, and chest computed tomography (CT);5 however, such methods yield low sensitivity or specificity and thus are not adequate to diagnose NSCLC at an early stage. Promoter methylation of tumor suppressor genes is frequently detected in cancer tissue and body fluid in malignant carcinomas such as lung,6, 7 colorectal,8 and esophageal cancers. Previous studies have reported that methylation of the P16 INK4a gene promoter is common in lung cancer. The methylation frequency of P16 INK4a in serum or bronchoalveolar fluid (BAF)/sputum in lung cancer patients has been widely discussed; however, the exact diagnostic performance of P16 INK4a as a biomarker for NSCLC remains inconclusive. Therefore, we conducted this updated meta‐analysis to further evaluate the diagnostic performance of P16 INK4a as a biomarker for NSCLC. Methods Electronic database search strategy Two reviewers independently searched the Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Chinese Biomedical Literature databases for studies relevant to P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation in serum or BAF/sputum. The following keywords were used: non‐small cell lung cancer; non‐small cell carcinoma, NSCLC, P16, P16 INK4a; cyclin‐dependent kinase inhibitor 2A, CDKN2A; CDK4 inhibitor; multiple tumor suppressor 1; TP16; methylation; and hypermethylation. Relevant studies were identified and duplicated publications or data were excluded. The title and abstract were then reviewed to locate relevant studies. All potentially suitable studies were reviewed in full‐text and all references of included publications were further screened to identify additional relevant publications. The publication search process is demonstrated in Figure 1. Figure 1 Publication search process. Inclusion and exclusion criteria The identified studies were further reviewed to assess whether the inclusion criteria were fulfilled: (i) diagnostic studies relevant to P16 INK4a promoter methylation and NSCLC; (ii) NSCLC diagnosis confirmed by pathology or cytology; (iii) P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation was detected by methylation‐specific PCR (MSP), real‐time MSP (RT‐MSP), or quantitative MSP (q‐MSP); (iv) P16 INK4a gene methylation status in serum or BAF/sputum in NSCLC and control subjects was available for each included study. The exclusion criteria were: (i) case reports or literature reviews; (ii) P16 INK4a gene methylation status detected in other specimens, not in serum or BAF/sputum; (iii) studies published in languages other than English or Chinese; and (iv) insufficient data to calculate sensitivity and specificity. Statistical analysis The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and symmetric receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve were pooled by fixed or random effects method according to the statistical heterogeneity across the included studies. Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were calculated using the following equations: sensitivity = true positive/(true positive + false negative); specificity = true negative/(true negative + false positive). Publication bias was evaluated by Egger's line regression test and Begger's funnel plot. P < 0.05 was considered to indicate significant statistical difference. Results Study characteristics Initially, 488 relevant publications were identified. After reviewing the title, abstract, and full text, 26 studies relevant to P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation as a biomarker for the diagnosis of NSCLC were included for quantitative analysis.9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 Sixteen publications evaluated P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation in serum and 10 in BAF/sputum. The general characteristics of the 26 studies are shown in Table 1. Table 1 Study characteristics Distribution Study Year Area NSCLC Control Tp Fp Fn Tn Specimen Kersting et al.9 2000 US 31 25 18 7 13 18 Serum Bearzatto et al.10 2002 Italy 30 15 12 0 18 15 Serum Wu et al.11 2002 China 14 26 4 0 10 26 Serum Cai et al.12 2003 China 49 55 15 1 34 54 Serum Kim et al.13 2004 Korea 85 127 14 8 71 119 Serum Fujiwara et al.14 2005 US 111 80 14 3 97 77 Serum Kong et al.15 2007 China 64 46 19 0 45 46 Serum Hsu et al.16 2007 51 33 21 3 30 30 Serum Zhang et al.17 2008 China 95 22 52 2 43 20 Serum Ma et al.18 2009 China 62 19 32 0 30 19 Serum Hu et al.19 2009 China 46 21 22 1 24 20 Serum Chen et al.20 2010 China 159 81 39 0 120 81 Serum Wang et al.21 2016 China 50 50 22 0 28 50 Serum Wan et al.22 2017 China 98 60 69 9 29 51 Serum Liu et al.23 2017 China 120 46 45 3 75 43 Serum Destro et al.24 2004 Italy 24 100 16 4 8 96 BAF/sputum Konno et al.25 2004 Japan 78 94 44 20 34 74 BAF/sputum Wang et al.26 2004 China 34 21 11 0 23 21 BAF/sputum Georgiou et al.27 2007 Greece 80 40 55 9 25 31 BAF/sputum Liu et al.28 2008 China 58 107 41 55 17 52 BAF/sputum Zhang et al.29 2004 China 44 20 27 3 17 17 BAF/sputum Guo et al.30 2008 China 100 50 61 0 39 50 BAF/sputum Hu et al.31 2009 China 42 25 20 0 22 25 BAF/sputum Peng et al.32 2010 China 82 25 60 0 22 25 BAF/sputum Zhang et al.33 2012 China 41 15 21 2 20 13 BAF/sputum Sun et al.34 2012 China 120 120 56 6 64 114 BAF/sputum BAF, bronchoalveolar fluid; fn, false negative; fp, false positive; NSCLC, non‐small cell lung cancer; tn, true negative; tp, true positive; US, United States. Pooled sensitivity and specificity Because of significant statistical heterogeneity, the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were pooled using the random effects method. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.46 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.43–0.48) (Fig 2) and 0.90 (95% CI 0.88–0.91) (Fig 3), respectively, for P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation as a biomarker for the diagnosis of NSCLC. Figure 2 Forest plot if the sensitivity of P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation as a biomarker for the diagnosis of non‐small cell lung cancer. CI, confidence interval. Figure 3 Forest plot for specificity of P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation as a biomarker for the diagnosis of non‐small cell lung cancer. CI, confidence interval. Pooled positive and negative likelihood ratios The diagnostic positive likelihood ratio (+LR) and negative likelihood ratio (−LR) were also pooled by random effect method because of significant heterogeneity. The pooled +LR and −LR were 6.33 (95% CI 3.89–10.30) (Fig 4) and 0.57 (95% CI 0.50–0.65) (Fig 5), respectively, for P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation as a biomarker for the diagnosis of NSCLC. Figure 4 Forest plot of the negative likelihood ratio (LR). CI, confidence interval. Figure 5 Forest plot of the positive likelihood ratio (LR). CI, confidence interval. Pooled diagnostic odds ratio The pooled diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was 10.72 (95% CI 6.94–16.56) for P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation as a biomarker for the diagnosis of NSCLC (Fig 6). Figure 6 Forest plot of the diagnostic odds ratio (OR). Symmetric receiver operating characteristic curve The area under the SROC curve was 0.75 with a standard error of 0.004 for P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation as a biomarker for the diagnosis of lung cancer (Fig 7). Figure 7 The pooled symmetric receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve for P16 gene promoter methylation for the diagnosis of non‐small cell lung cancer. AUC, area under the curve; SE, standard error. Subgroup analysis We also conducted subgroup analysis, detecting P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation in serum or BAF/sputum. The pooled diagnostic performances in serum and BAF/sputum are shown in Table 2. Table 2 Diagnostic performance in subgroup analysis Serum BAF/sputum Diagnostic index Point estimate 95% CI I2 Point estimate 95% CI I2 Sensitivity 0.37 0.34–0.40 89.8% 0.59 0.55–0.62 71.7% Specificity 0.95 0.93–0.96 72.5% 0.84 0.81–0.87 93.1% +LR 5.46 3.43–8.69 39.6% 6.15 2.81–13.46 89.6% −LR 0.64 0.57–0.73 86.9% 0.49 0.51–0.57 64.2% DOR 9.41 5.67–15.62 32.5% 12.32 5.86–25.94 73.0% AUC 0.78 0.74–0.82 — 0.71 0.69–0.77 — +LR, positive likelihood ratio; ‐LR, negative likelihood ratio; AUC, area under the curve; BAF, bronchoalveolar fluid; CI, confidence interval; DOR, diagnostic odds ratio. Evaluation of publication bias Publication bias was evaluated by Egger's line regression test and Begg's funnel plot. No publication bias was detected by line regression test (t = 0.95; P = 0.35) or Begg's funnel plot (Fig 8). Figure 8 A funnel plot of publication evaluation. ESS, effective sample size. () Study and () Regression lines. Discussion In China, lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignant carcinoma and the leading cause of cancer mortality in both men and women, particularly in men aged ≥ 75 years. As most NSCLC patients are only diagnosed at locally advanced‐stage or after remote metastasis has occurred, they are ineligible for surgery. Prognosis is poor, with an extremely low five‐year survival rate, because of the lack of effective methods for lung cancer screening or early diagnosis. Promoter methylation of tumor suppressor genes is common in body fluid and can be used as a lung cancer diagnosis method or biomarker. Several studies have evaluated its clinical application with acceptable diagnostic performance and high specificity.35, 36, 37, 38 The P16 INK4a gene, also known as the CDKN2A gene, is located on chromosome 9 (9p21.3) and plays an important role in regulating the cell cycle.39 The promoter region of P16 ink4a is usually hypermethylated in cancer cells of NSCLC patients. Studies have found that P16 INK4a methylation can be detected in body fluid, such as serum and sputum,23, 24 indicating that detection of P16 INK4a methylation status may be used as an important tool for lung cancer diagnosis, screening, or the monitoring of recurrence. Two previous meta‐analyses evaluated P16 INK4a methylation in serum and sputum as a biomarker for lung cancer diagnosis and concluded that detection of P16 INK4a promoter methylation via these methods was a useful tool for lung cancer diagnosis.40, 41 However, several recently published relevant studies were not included in these meta‐analyses. Therefore, we performed an updated meta‐analysis, including recently published relevant publications and further evaluated the clinical value of P16 INK4a methylation as a biomarker for NSCLC diagnosis. We confirmed that P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation detection in serum or BAF/sputum may be a potential biomarker for NSCLC diagnosis; however, the sensitivity was relatively low and was thus not suitable for NSCLC screening. Although our results indicate that P16 INK4a gene promoter methylation represents a promising method for NSCLC diagnosis, there was significant statistical heterogeneity in the process of data merging, which inevitably affected our results. Furthermore, the sample sizes of the included studies were relatively small, which can reduce the statistical power of each included study. 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