Diagnostic accuracy of tumor M2-pyruvate kinase (tM2-PK) as a non-invasive biomarker in colorectal cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction

The tumor pyruvate kinase M2 isoform (tM2-PK) is a glycolytic enzyme isoform that is present on the surface of rapidly proliferating cancer cells. The objective of this investigation was to assess the efficacy of the tM2-PK measurement assay in detecting colorectal cancer (CRC) through the analysis of serum/plasma and stool samples obtained from patients.

Methods

The pooled diagnostic performance measures, including sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), the area under the curve (AUC), Q*index, and summary receiver-operating characteristic curve (SROC), were computed using the Meta-Disc V.1.4 and Comprehensive Meta-Analysis V.3.3 software. The statistical methods of I² and chi-square were employed to assess the presence of heterogeneity. The estimation of publication bias was conducted through the implementation of Begg's rank correlation and Egger's regression asymmetry tests.

Results

A total of 28 studies were found, involving 2900 participants (1560 cases and 1340 controls). The diagnostic accuracy of tM2-PK was calculated in CRC based on the pooled sensitivity of 83.70% (95% CI: 82.0% – 85.30%), specificity of 74.0% (95% CI: 72.0% – 76.0%), PLR of 4.432 (95% CI: 3.33 – 5.60), NLR of 0.187 (95% CI: 0.144 – 0.243), DOR of 30.182 (95% CI: 19.761 – 46.10) as well as AUC at 91.6%, and Q*-index at 85.0%. Publication bias was seen based on Begg's (p = 0.0006) and Egger's (p = 0.00015) tests.

Conclusion

The results demonstrate that tM2-PK exhibits promise as a fair marker for CTRC, with the potential to serve as a non-invasive biomarker.