Adherence to STARD guidelines in miRNA diagnostic accuracy studies for hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review
Abstract Background Accumulating evidence demonstrates that miRNAs exhibit enhanced diagnostic sensitivity and specificity compared to the conventional hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) biomarker alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), particularly showing promising clinical utility in early-stage HCC detection. Howe...
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2025-06-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-025-02610-5 |
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| author | Shuaiyang Wang Mei Wu Bei Xie Xingyuan Ma Jing Li Bin Ma Linjing Li |
| author_facet | Shuaiyang Wang Mei Wu Bei Xie Xingyuan Ma Jing Li Bin Ma Linjing Li |
| author_sort | Shuaiyang Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Accumulating evidence demonstrates that miRNAs exhibit enhanced diagnostic sensitivity and specificity compared to the conventional hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) biomarker alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), particularly showing promising clinical utility in early-stage HCC detection. However, insufficient transparency in methodology reporting compromises the validity assessment of these findings and hinders their translational applications. In this study, we investigated the adherence to the STARD criteria in studies investigating the diagnostic accuracy of miRNA for liver cancer. In addition, the quality of reporting was examined to identify factors influencing the quality of reporting. Method A comprehensive search strategy was performed on the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science, as of March 30, 2023. Clinical trials investigating the diagnostic value of miRNA for HCC diagnosis were included in the analysis. The eligible studies were checked against adherence to the STARD criteria. Factors determining quality of studies were evaluated through subgroup analyses. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (varsion25.0). Results Sixty-two eligible studies, all published between 2010 and 2022, were eventually included in the final analysis. The results revealed a moderate overall adherence to STARD 2015, with an average of 12.1 (52.6%) of the 23 items reported. Subgroup analysis revealed that adherence to the STARD 2015 varied among countries (USA 58.7%;Egypt 46.5%)(p<0.05). Conclusion The quality of studies reporting the diagnostic accuracy of miRNAs in HCC was average and did not increase after the publication of STARD 2015. Our findings rise awareness regarding the need to improve STARD standards, implying that more journals need to include STARD standards for relevant manuscripts. In addition, editorial and peer approval procedures should adopt measures that will aim to improve reporting quality. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2f6cc0009e2b4f43ad7acc49da2fb135 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1471-2288 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Medical Research Methodology |
| spelling | doaj-art-2f6cc0009e2b4f43ad7acc49da2fb1352025-08-20T02:30:42ZengBMCBMC Medical Research Methodology1471-22882025-06-0125111110.1186/s12874-025-02610-5Adherence to STARD guidelines in miRNA diagnostic accuracy studies for hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic reviewShuaiyang Wang0Mei Wu1Bei Xie2Xingyuan Ma3Jing Li4Bin Ma5Linjing Li6Department of Clinical Laboratory Center, The Second Hospital of Lanzhou UniversityEvidence-Based Medicine Centre, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou UniversityDepartment of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou UniversityDepartment of Clinical Laboratory Center, The Second Hospital of Lanzhou UniversityDepartment of Clinical Laboratory Center, The Second Hospital of Lanzhou UniversityEvidence-Based Medicine Centre, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou UniversityDepartment of Clinical Laboratory Center, The Second Hospital of Lanzhou UniversityAbstract Background Accumulating evidence demonstrates that miRNAs exhibit enhanced diagnostic sensitivity and specificity compared to the conventional hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) biomarker alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), particularly showing promising clinical utility in early-stage HCC detection. However, insufficient transparency in methodology reporting compromises the validity assessment of these findings and hinders their translational applications. In this study, we investigated the adherence to the STARD criteria in studies investigating the diagnostic accuracy of miRNA for liver cancer. In addition, the quality of reporting was examined to identify factors influencing the quality of reporting. Method A comprehensive search strategy was performed on the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science, as of March 30, 2023. Clinical trials investigating the diagnostic value of miRNA for HCC diagnosis were included in the analysis. The eligible studies were checked against adherence to the STARD criteria. Factors determining quality of studies were evaluated through subgroup analyses. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (varsion25.0). Results Sixty-two eligible studies, all published between 2010 and 2022, were eventually included in the final analysis. The results revealed a moderate overall adherence to STARD 2015, with an average of 12.1 (52.6%) of the 23 items reported. Subgroup analysis revealed that adherence to the STARD 2015 varied among countries (USA 58.7%;Egypt 46.5%)(p<0.05). Conclusion The quality of studies reporting the diagnostic accuracy of miRNAs in HCC was average and did not increase after the publication of STARD 2015. Our findings rise awareness regarding the need to improve STARD standards, implying that more journals need to include STARD standards for relevant manuscripts. In addition, editorial and peer approval procedures should adopt measures that will aim to improve reporting quality.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-025-02610-5MiRNAHCCSTARDReportDiagnosisChecklist |
| spellingShingle | Shuaiyang Wang Mei Wu Bei Xie Xingyuan Ma Jing Li Bin Ma Linjing Li Adherence to STARD guidelines in miRNA diagnostic accuracy studies for hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review BMC Medical Research Methodology MiRNA HCC STARD Report Diagnosis Checklist |
| title | Adherence to STARD guidelines in miRNA diagnostic accuracy studies for hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review |
| title_full | Adherence to STARD guidelines in miRNA diagnostic accuracy studies for hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review |
| title_fullStr | Adherence to STARD guidelines in miRNA diagnostic accuracy studies for hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Adherence to STARD guidelines in miRNA diagnostic accuracy studies for hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review |
| title_short | Adherence to STARD guidelines in miRNA diagnostic accuracy studies for hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review |
| title_sort | adherence to stard guidelines in mirna diagnostic accuracy studies for hepatocellular carcinoma a systematic review |
| topic | MiRNA HCC STARD Report Diagnosis Checklist |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-025-02610-5 |
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