Aim: A meta-analysis was conducted to assess the application of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) screening, EGFR and KRAS mutation detection. Materials & methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted. The summary sensitivity and specificity for cfDNA in NSCLC diagnosis, EGFR and KRAS mutation detection were calculated. Results: The sensitivity and specificity for NSCLC diagnosis, EGFR and KRAS mutation detection were 0.80 (95% CI: 0.72–0.87) and 0.81 (95% CI: 0.68–0.91), 0.780 (95% CI: 0.711–0.853) and 0.962 (95% CI: 0.942–0.984), 0.628 (95% CI: 0.244–0.919) and 0.959 (95% CI: 0.932–0.998), respectively. Conclusion: cfDNA was a minimally invasive approach for NSCLC diagnosis, but its clinical utility warranted more future investigations because of the suboptimal sensitivity.
EGFR mutation detection in circulating cell-free DNA of lung adenocarcinoma patients: analysis of LUX-Lung 3 and 6