Abstract

Background: Epstein-Barr virus capsid antigen immunoglobulin A (EBV VCA-IgA) exerts an important role in the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the pooled diagnostic performance of VCA-IgA for NPC.
Methods: Literature fulfilling the criteria was searched in PubMed and Embase databases. The quality of the studies was assessed in terms of the Quality Assessment of Diagnosis Accuracy Studies (QUADAS) criteria. The pooled diagnostic parameters were generated using a bivariate meta-analysis model. Statistical analysis was performed based on the platforms of Meta-Disc 1.4 and Stata 12.0 software. The trim and fill adjustment method was applied to further assess the possible effects of publication bias. Result: Twenty one studies comprising 2986 NPC patients and 3507 controls were included in this meta-analysis. The overall pooled sensitivity and specificity of serum VCA-IgA for NPC were 0.83 (95%CI: 0.82 - 0.84) and 0.88 (95% CI: 0.87 - 0.89), respectively, accompanied by a pooled diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of 49.87 and area under curve (AUC) of 0.9390. Moreover, our stratified analyses suggested that combinations of multiple EBV antigens (sensitivity, specificity, DOR, and AUC of 0.93, 0.95, 331.8, and 0.9850, respectively) yielded higher accuracy than single VCA-IgA test (sensitivity, specificity, DOR and AUC of 0.83, 0.88, 49.87, and 0.9393, respectively). Additionally, the immunoenzyme assay (IEA) seemed to be a better alternative for the analysis of serum VCA-IgA level, with a sensitivity of 0.92, specificity of 0.94, and AUC of 0.9644.
Conclusions: Serum VCA-IgA hallmarks promising accuracy in the management of NPC and that parallel tests of multiple EBV antigens may be more suitable for NPC serodiagnosis than single VCA-IgA assay.

DOI: 10.7754/Clin.Lab.2015.151122