Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33691680›Full record

ReviewCancer cell international2021

The diagnostic value of EBV-DNA and EBV-related antibodies detection for nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a meta-analysis.

Weixing Liu, Gui Chen, Xin Gong, Yingqi Wang, Yaoming Zheng, Xiao Liao, Wenjing Liao, Lijuan Song, Jun Xu, Xiaowen Zhang

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Cancer cell international, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
47citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
4.2field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

47 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  16. Epstein-Barr Virus Serology Associated With Persistent Oral Human Papillomavirus Infections in Men.Journal of oral pathology & medicine : official publication of the International Association of Oral Pathologists and the American Academy of Oral Pathology · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Weixing LiuState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, #151 Yanjiangxi Road, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
Gui ChenState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, #151 Yanjiangxi Road, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
Xin GongState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, #151 Yanjiangxi Road, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
Yingqi WangState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, #151 Yanjiangxi Road, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
Yaoming ZhengState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, #151 Yanjiangxi Road, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
Xiao LiaoState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, #151 Yanjiangxi Road, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
Wenjing LiaoState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, #151 Yanjiangxi Road, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
Lijuan SongState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, #151 Yanjiangxi Road, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
Jun XuState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, #151 Yanjiangxi Road, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
Xiaowen ZhangState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, #151 Yanjiangxi Road, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, People's Republic of China. entxiaowen@163.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5255-8610
First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundNumerous individual studies have investigated the diagnostic value of EBV-DNA, EA-IgA, VCA-IgA, EBNA1-IgA and Rta-IgG detection for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), but the conclusions remain controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to determine the value of EBV-DNA, EA-IgA, VCA-IgA, EBNA1-IgA and Rta-IgG detection in the diagnosis of NPC.

methodsPROSPERO registration number: CRD42019145532. PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Chinese data libraries (Wanfang, CNKI, and CBM) were searched up to January 2019. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and positive likelihood, negative likelihood, and diagnostic odds ratios were conducted in this meta-analysis. Summary receiver operating characteristic curves evaluated the test-performance global summary. Publication bias was examined by Deek's funnel plot asymmetry test.

resultsForty-seven studies with 8382 NPC patients (NPC group) and 15,089 individuals without NPC (Control group) were included in this meta-analysis. The sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood (+ LR), negative likelihood (-LR), DOR and AUC of EBV-DNA in diagnosis of NPC were: 0.76 (95% CI 0.73-0.77), 0.96 (95% CI 0.95-0.97), 14.66 (95% CI 9.97-21.55), 0.19 (95% CI 0.13-0.28), 84 (95% CI 50.45-139.88), 0.96 (SE: 0.001), and 0.55 (95% CI 0.54-0.57), 0.96 (95% CI 0.96-0.97), 12.91 (95% CI 9.55-17.45), 0.35 (95% CI 0.29-0.43), 39.57 (95% CI 26.44-59.23), 0.94 (SE: 0.002) for the EA-IgA, and 0.85 (95% CI 0.84-0.85), 0.89 (95% CI 0.88-0.89), 6.73 (95% CI5.38-8.43), 0.17 (95% CI 0.12-0.23), 43.03 (95% CI 31.51-58.76), 0.93 (SE: 0.007) for the VCA-IgA, and 0.86 (95% CI 0.85-0.88), 0.87 (95% CI 0.88-0.90), 7.55 (95% CI 5.79-9.87), 0.16 (95% CI 0.13-0.19), 50.95 (95% CI 34.35-75.57), 0.94 (SE: 0.008) for the EBNA1-IgA, and 0.70 (95% CI 0.69-0.71), 0.94 (95% CI 0.94-0.95), 9.84 (95% CI 8.40-11.54), 0.25 (95% CI 0.21-0.31), 40.59 (95% CI 32.09-51.35), 0.95 (SE: 0.005) for the Rta-IgG. The EBV-DNA had larger AUC compared with other EBV-based antibodies (P < 0.05), while the difference between EA-IgA, VCA-IgA, EBNA1-IgA and Rta-IgG was not statistically significant (P > 0.05).

conclusionsEBV-DNA, VCA-IgA, EBNA1-IgA and Rta-IgG detection have high accuracy in early diagnosis NPC. In addition, EBV-DNA detection has the higher diagnosis accuracy in NPC. On the other hand, EA-IgA is suitable for the diagnosis but not NPC screening.

Indexed as

DiagnosisEA-IgAEBNA1-IgAEBV-DNAEpstein-Barr virusMeta-analysisNasopharyngeal carcinomaRta-IgGVCA-IgA

Identifiers

PMID33691680
PMCPMC7944913
OpenAlexW3134631284

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.