The significant diagnostic value of human telomerase RNA component (hTERC) gene detection in high-grade cervical lesions and invasive cancer

Gains of 3q26 chromosome region, where the human telomerase RNA gene (hTERC) is located, have been previously documented in cervical carcinomas. However, published data on this subject are inconclusive. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the diagnostic value of hTERC in high-grade cervical lesions and invasive cancer. We searched all the eligible studies through PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library database without language limitation. Studies were assessed for quality using quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS). Positive likelihood ratio (PLR) and negative likelihood ratio (NLR) were pooled separately and compared with overall accuracy measures of diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and symmetric summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC). The PLR and NLR and their 95 % confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a fixed effects model according to the Mantel-Haensed method and random effects model based on the work of Der Simonian and laird, respectively. A total of 12 studies were included for the analysis. The pooled sensitivity was 0.81 (95 % CI, 0.80-0.82). The pooled specificity was 0.83 (95 % CI, 0.82-0.84). The DOR estimate was performed, and the result was 17.37. Our meta-analysis showed that the detection of genomic amplification of hTERC is a noninvasive and effective approach for high-grade cervical lesions and invasive cancer.