Diagnostic Performance of the Prostate Cancer Antigen 3 Test in Prostate Cancer: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

PurposeTo explore the diagnostic accuracy of prostate cancer antigen 3 (PCA3) test for the diagnosis of prostate cancer in this systematic review and meta-analysis.Patients and MethodsA systematic literature search of Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases up to October 2019 was performed. The sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. The summary receiver operator characteristic graph came from individual studies. We also conducted metaregression analysis to identify the moderated factors.ResultsAcross 54 studies (17,575 patients), the pooled sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio of PCA3 were 0.71 (95% CI, 0.67-0.74), 0.68 (95% CI, 0.63-0.74), and 5.28 (95% CI, 4.28-6.51), respectively. The area under the summary receiver operator characteristic curve was 0.75 (95% CI, 0.71-0.79).ConclusionPooled data indicated that the PCA3 test had moderate sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. PCA3 could be used as a noninvasive method for the diagnosis of prostate cancer.