Luchini, ClaudioVeronese, NicolaNottegar, AlessiaCappelletti, VeraDaidone, Maria G.Smith, LeeParris, ChristopherBrosens, Lodewijk A. A.Caruso, Maria G.Cheng, LiangWolfgang, Christopher L.Wood, Laura D.Milella, MicheleSalvia, RobertoScarpa, Aldo2020-01-022020-01-022019-08-10Luchini, C., Veronese, N., Nottegar, A., Cappelletti, V., Daidone, M. G., Smith, L., … Scarpa, A. (2019). Liquid Biopsy as Surrogate for Tissue for Molecular Profiling in Pancreatic Cancer: A Meta-Analysis Towards Precision Medicine. Cancers, 11(8), 1152. doi:10.3390/cancers11081152https://hdl.handle.net/1805/21682Liquid biopsy (LB) is a non-invasive approach representing a promising tool for new precision medicine strategies for cancer treatment. However, a comprehensive analysis of its reliability for pancreatic cancer (PC) is lacking. To this aim, we performed the first meta-analysis on this topic. We calculated the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive (LR+) and negative (LR-) likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR). A summary receiver operating characteristic curve (SROC) and area under curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the overall accuracy. We finally assessed the concordance rate of all mutations detected by multi-genes panels. Fourteen eligible studies involving 369 patients were included. The overall pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.70 and 0.86, respectively. The LR+ was 3.85, the LR- was 0.34 and DOR was 15.84. The SROC curve with an AUC of 0.88 indicated a relatively high accuracy of LB for molecular characterization of PC. The concordance rate of all mutations detected by multi-genes panels was 31.9%. LB can serve as surrogate for tissue in the molecular profiling of PC, because of its relatively high sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. It represents a unique opportunity to be further explored towards its introduction in clinical practice and for developing new precision medicine approaches against PC.en-USLiquid biopsycfDNAPancreatic cancerPrecision medicineCirculating tumor cells (CTC)Article