ABSTRACT
<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Non-invasive nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) screening usually involves serological testing for the presence of IgA antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) capsid antigen (VCA). The present meta-analysis determined the accuracy of VCA-IgA in the diagnosis of NPC.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A systematic review of studies was conducted and data on the accuracy of VCA-IgA concentrations in the diagnosis of NPC were pooled using random effects models. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to summarize the overall test performance.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Twenty studies met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. The summary estimates for VCA-IgA in the diagnosis of NPC were: sensitivity 0.91 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.90 - 0.92), specificity 0.92 (95%CI: 0.92 - 0.93), positive likelihood ratio 31.65 (95%CI: 10.99 - 91.15), negative likelihood ratio 0.10 (95%CI: 0.07 - 0.13) and diagnostic odds ratio 414.59 (95%CI: 174.96 - 982.42). The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curves was 0.98.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The sensitivity and the specificity of serum VCA-IgA are very high, suggesting that the presence of VCA-IgA in peripheral blood is a valuable predictor for NPC.</p>