Clinicopathological Significance and Diagnostic Value of DLEC1 Hypermethylation in Lung Cancer: A Meta-analysis

Background: DLEC1 is a tumor-suppressor gene which plays a role in carcinogenesis. The purpose of the current study was to help establish the diagnostic performance of DLEC1 methylation in lung cancer. Methods: PubMed, Embase, CNKI, and Wanfang databases were searched to obtain eligible studies. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to estimate the strength of the associations. The diagnostic value was assessed by the summary receiver operating characteristics test. Results: A total of 7 articles, with 8 studies that included 673 lung cancer and 581 control samples, were collected in this meta-analysis. Our results showed a significant association of DLEC1 hypermethylation with lung cancer (P < 0.00001, OR = 13.93, 95% CI = 9.44-20.55). The frequency of DLEC1 methylation was significantly higher in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) than adenocarcinoma (AC). Moreover, DLEC1 was more frequently methylated in patients with lung cancer aged 60 years or over, patients with lymphatic metastasis, or patients with stage III/IV lung cancer. In addition, there was a sensitivity value of 0.90 (95% CI = 0.86-0.93) and a specificity value of 0.60 (95% CI = 0.56-0.63), a pooled positive likelihood ratio (PLR) of 2.27 (95% CI = 2.08-2.48), a pooled negative-likelihood ratio (NLR) of 0.17 (95% CI = 0.12-0.23), a diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of 14.72 (10.09-21) and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.8146 using DLEC1 methylation in the prediction of lung cancer risk. Conclusion: This meta-analysis confirms that DLEC1 methylation is a promising biomarker for lung cancer.