Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 2, 2025
The Use of Reverse Phase Protein Arrays RPPA to Explore Protein Expression Variation within Individual Renal Cell Cancers
Published on: January 22, 2013
Systematic Review and STARD Scoring of Renal Cell Carcinoma Circulating Diagnostic Biomarker Manuscripts
Marco A J Iafolla1,2,3, Sarah Picardo1,2, Kyaw Aung1,2,4
1Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Background:
No validated molecular biomarkers exist to help guide diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients. We seek to evaluate the quality of published RCC circulating diagnostic biomarker manuscripts using the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (STARD) guidelines.
Methods:
The phrase "(renal cell carcinoma OR renal cancer OR kidney cancer OR kidney carcinoma) AND circulating AND (biomarkers OR cell free DNA OR tumor DNA OR methylated cell free DNA OR methylated tumor DNA)" was searched in Embase, MEDLINE, and PubMed in March 2018. Relevant manuscripts were scored using 41 STARD subcriteria for a maximal score of 26 points. All tests of statistical significance were 2 sided.
Results:
The search identified 535 publications: 27 manuscripts of primary research were analyzed. The median STARD score was 11.5 (range = 7-16.75). All manuscripts had appropriate abstracts, introductions, and distribution of alternative diagnoses. None of the manuscripts stated how indeterminant data were handled or if adverse events occurred from performing the index test or reference standard. Statistically significantly higher STARD scores were present in manuscripts reporting receiver operator characteristic curves (P < .001), larger sample sizes (P = .007), and after release of the original STARD statement (P = .005).
Conclusions:
Most RCC circulating diagnostic biomarker manuscripts poorly adhere to the STARD guidelines. Future studies adhering to STARD guidelines may address this unmet need.
