Objective: A meta-analysis was performed to estimate the diagnostic accuracy of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in suspected recurrent ovarian cancer.
Materials and methods: PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science were systematically searched. Studies that compared PET/CT and reference standards within patients for diagnosis of suspected recurrent ovarian cancer were included.
Results: Twenty-nine studies involving 1651 patients with ovarian cancer were analyzed. For recurrent versus nonrecurrent ovarian cancer, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood (LH) ratio, negative LH ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio of ovarian carcinoma were 88.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 86.6%-90.3%), 90.3% (95% CI, 87.6%-92.7%), 6.104 (95% CI, 3.904-9.543), 0.122 (95% CI, 0.077%-0.192%), and 57.032 (95% CI, 30.764-105.73), respectively, for recurrence in the PET/CT. Because sensitivity, specificity, positive LH ratio, and negative LH ratio were all heterogeneous, random effects model was used, and a summary receiver operating characteristic curve was generated. The area under the curve was 0.9445 for recurrent versus nonrecurrent ovarian cancer.
Conclusions: Positron emission tomography/computed tomography is a useful tool for predicting the diagnosis and restaging of suspected recurrent ovarian carcinoma.