| First author [ref.] | Cases n | Sample | AUC/comparison | Cut-off point | Sensitivity% | Specificity % |
| Robinson [23] | 44 MM Control group 40 HAE 28 H non-AE 92 LID 30 C non-PLI 20 non-MMPLE 18 BPDAE | Serum | NA/MM versus other pleural diseases NA/MM versus other lung tumours NA/MM versus other asbestos-exposed subjects | NA NA NA | 84 84 84 | 100 95 83 |
| Scherpereel [24] | 60 MM Control group 23 BPDAE 30 Mets | Serum | 0.872/MM versus BPDAE 0.693/MM versus Mets 0.771/MM versus control | 0.93 nM 1.85 nM 1.1 nM | 80 58.3 71.7 | 82.6 73.3 69.8 |
| 43 MM PLE Control group 21 BPDAE 28 Mets | Pleural | 0.831/MM versus BPDAE 0.793/MM versus Mets 0.809/MM versus control | 10.4 nM 11.4 nM 11.4 nM | 76.7 76 76.7 | 76.2 64 69.4 | |
| Cristaudo [16] | 107 MM 262 healthy controls exposed or not to asbestos | Serum | 0.77/MM versus control | 1.00 nmol·L−1 | 68.2 | 80.5 |
| Grigoriu [28] | 96 MM Control group 112 HAE 33 BPDAE 43 Mets | Serum | 0.866/MM versus HAE | NA | NA | NA |
| Creaney [29] | 52 MM PLE Control group 84 PLE of benign aetiology 56 PLE of malignant non-MM 7 MM PF 14 PF of malignant non-MM 21 PF of benign aetiology | Pleural and peritoneal effusions | 0.898/MM versus all patients with benign effusions | 20 nM | 67 | 98 |
| Creaney [30] | 117 MM Control group 33 HAE 53 BPDAE 30 benign PLE | Serum | 0.790/MM versus control | NA | 52 | 95 |
| Creaney [20] | 66 MM Control group 10 HAE 10 H non-AE 21 BPDAE 30 PLE of benign aetiology 20 PLE of malignant non-MM 10 LC | Serum | 0.915/MM versus healthy controls and BPDAE | NA | 73 | 95 |
| Pass [22] | 90 MM Control group 170 LC 66 AE 409 H non-AE | Serum | 0.810/MM versus AE 0.820/MM versus LC 0.741/MM stage I versus AE 0.891/MM versus control | 1.9 nM 1.1 nM 2.0 nM 1.075 nM | 60 78.9 58 81.1 | 89.2 76.4 91 87.1 |
| 45 MM PLE Control group 30 PLE of benign aetiology 20 PLE of malignant non-MM | Pleural | 0.78/MM versus benign PLE 0.76/MM versus control | 12.6 nM 12.6 nM | 75.6 75.6 | 83.3 82 | |
| Schneider [26] | 129 MM Control group 139 LC 75 BPDAE | Serum | 0.72/MM versus control | 1.35 nM | 53 | 82.7 |
| Azim [27] | 50 MM Control group 33 breast cancer 22 H non-AE | Serum | 0.765/MM versus control | 7.22 nM·L−1 | 66 | 70.9 |
| Iwahori [31] | 27 MM Control group 47 LC 35 other cancers 9 HAE 38 H non-AE | Serum | 0.713/MM versus control | 93.5 ng·mL−1 | 59.3 | 86.2 |
| Amati [32] | 22 MM Control group 54 H non-AE 94 HAE | Serum | 0.927/MM versus control | 1.9 nM | 72 | 90 |
| Rodríguez Portal [18] | 36 MM Control group 48 H non-AE 177 HAE 101 BPDAE | Serum | 0.75/MM versus control | 0.55 nmol·L−1 | 72 | 72 |
| Davies [33] | 24 MM PLE Control group 67 PLE of malignant non-MM 75 PLE of benign aetiology | Pleural | 0.878/MM versus control | 20 nM | 71 | 90 |
| Hollevoet [19] | 85 MM Control group 101 H non-AE 89 HAE 123 BPDAE 46 benign respiratory disease 63 LC | Serum | 0.871/MM versus control | 2.00 nmol·L−1 | 64 | 95 |
| Creaney [25] | 70 MM Control group 111 BPDAE 20 LC 19 IPF 19 sarcoidosis 7 non-MM Exudative PLE | Serum Urine | 0.881/MM versus all patients with benign disease 0.787/MM versus all patients with benign disease | 1.62 nM NA | 67 53 | 95 95 |
| Cristaudo [34] | 31 MM (epithelioid) Control group 93 H non-AE 111 benign respiratory disease associated or not with AE | Serum | 0.762/MM versus control | 1.32 nM | 51.6 | 90 |
AUC: area under the receiver operating characteristics curve; HAE: healthy asbestos exposure; H non-AE: healthy non-asbestos exposure; LID: lung inflammatory diseases; C non-PLI: cancer without pleural involvement; non-MMPLE: non-malignant mesothelioma pleural effusions; BPDAE: benign pulmonary/pleural disease associated with asbestos exposure; NA: not available; Mets: pleural metastasis of carcinomas; PLE: pleural effusions; PF: peritoneal fluid; LC: lung cancer; AE: asbestos exposure; IPF: idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.