[Quality assessment of global liver cancer screening guidelines and consensus]

Objective: To systematically assess the quality of guidelines/consensus on live cancer screening globally and provide references for the formulation of evidence-based guideline on liver cancer screening in China. Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, SinoMed, and other related guideline development institutions were searched to identify guidelines on live cancer screening before June 30, 2020. Two experienced reviewers screened literature and extracted data independently. The Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation Ⅱ(AGREE Ⅱ) and Reporting Items for Practice Guideline in Healthcare (RIGHT) were used to evaluate the quality of guidelines. Results: A total of 19 guidelines/consensus issued between 2003 and 2019 were included in this study. The quality of these guidelines was high according to AGREE Ⅱ, nine of which were recommended as level A, and the other five were graded as level B. Each guidance scored higher in scope and purpose, stakeholder involvement, and clarity of presentation. The reporting quality of basic information with 56.1% reporting rate was the highest based on RIGHT. The reporting quality of background (37.5%) and recommendations (39.8%) were acceptable. However, evidence (35.8%), review and quality assurance (18.4%), funding and declaration and management of interests (22.4%) and other information (21.0%) still need to be improved. Conclusions: Although the quality of screening guidelines for liver cancer is acceptable, the evidence, review and quality assurance, and funding and declaration and management of interests still need to be strengthened. There is still a lack of solely evidence-based medical screening guidelines for liver cancer in China.