Meta-Analysis
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Nov 24, 2023; 14(11): 504-517
Published online Nov 24, 2023. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v14.i11.504
Circulating tumor cells as potential prognostic biomarkers for early-stage pancreatic cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Zi-Han Zhang, Yi-Wen Bao, Ya-Jun Zhao, Jian-Quan Wang, Jin-Tao Guo, Si-Yu Sun
Zi-Han Zhang, Yi-Wen Bao, Ya-Jun Zhao, Jian-Quan Wang, Jin-Tao Guo, Si-Yu Sun, Department of Gastroenterology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang ZH contributed to the data acquisition and analysis, and article drafting; Bao YW, Zhao YJ, and Wang JQ and Sun SY oversaw acquiring and analyzing data; Guo JT was the study supervisor and was responsible for the revision of the manuscript; all authors read and gave their final approval for this version of the manuscript to be submitted.
Supported by Liaoning Province Applied Basic Research Program Joint Program Project, No. 2022JH2/101500076; Shenyang Young and Middle-aged Science and Technology Innovation Talent Support Program, No. RC200438; Tree planting program of Shengjing Hospital, No. M1595.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors deny any conflict of interest.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jin-Tao Guo, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, No. 36 Sanhao Street, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning Province, China. guojt@sj-hospital.org
Received: June 28, 2023
Peer-review started: June 28, 2023
First decision: August 25, 2023
Revised: September 14, 2023
Accepted: October 26, 2023
Article in press: October 26, 2023
Published online: November 24, 2023
Processing time: 146 Days and 1.2 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: There is no consensus regarding the prognostic value of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in early-stage pancreatic cancer after surgery. This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the potential of CTCs in predicting survival time in early pancreatic cancer. We pooled the analyses of the relationship between CTCs and overall/disease-free/progression-free/relapse-free survival in related studies. Patients testing positive for CTCs pre- or intra-surgery may have worse prognoses, requiring more intense chemotherapy and closer follow-up.