• Longguo Zhang, Fanqi Wu, Rui Zhu, Di Wu, Yao Ding, Zhongmei Zhang, Ya Gao, Yixin Wan, and Mediastinal N Staging Assessment Working Group.
• The Second Clinical Medical School of Lanzhou University.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2020 Feb 1; 99 (9): e19314.

BackgroundRuling out distant metastases, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)treatment depends on the results of mediastinal node staging (N staging). Several diagnostic methods play central roles in mediastinal N staging. This study is intended to evaluate the existing diagnostic methods and report quality, and to search for the best method for staging mediastinal lymph nodes.MethodsWe searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library to identify relevant studies, including randomized controlled trials and retrospective studies. These studies report the application of computed tomography, positron emission tomography-computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, endobronchial ultrasound, and mediastinoscopy in the diagnosis of mediastinal lymph node staging of NSCLC. The quality of the literature was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Study 2. The true positive, false positive, true negative, and false negative of each study was extracted. The corresponding sensitivity, specificity, and other indicators were calculated and the Summary Receiver Operating curve was established. Then, head-to-head and indirect comparison meta-analyses will be conducted.ResultsThe results of this study will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.ConclusionThis study will provide basis for mediastinal lymph node staging of non-small cell lung cancer.Prospero Registration NumberCRD42019145667.

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