Review for 10.1186/s12876-020-01345-5 (2020)

Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: The role of circulating microRNAs for the diagnosis of hepatitis B virus -associated 
hepatocellular carcinoma with  low alpha -fetoprotein level: A systematic review and meta -
analysis  
 
Version: 0 Date: 29 Mar 2020  
 
Reviewer: Conrado Fernandez Rodriguez  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Please include all comments for the authors in this box rather than uploading your report as an 
attachment. Please only upload as attachments annotated versions of manuscripts, graphs, 
supporting materials or other aspects of your report which cannot b e included in a text format.  
 
Please overwrite this text when adding your comments to the authors.  
 
In this systematic review authors identified 8 papers dealing with the diagnostic value of 
circulating miRNA in the HCC -HBV related diagnosis with low levels  of AFP.  Results are of 
interest, however miRNA determination is not a widely accessible technique on clinical grounds, 
please discuss it. In order to ensure quality of the selected manuscripts, the authors applied the 
Quadas score, however 5 out the 8 se lected manuscript scored &lt; 9. In addition, they 
commented that the sensitivity analysis yielded stability. However, did results change if these 5 
papers are excluded for final analysis?  
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is requ ired in your comments to the authors.  
 
Unable to assess  
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Unable to assess  
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manus cript or would you recommend an 
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please speci fy what aspects require further 
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I recommend additional statistical review  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Accep table  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1.  Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, f ees, funding, or salary 
from an organisation that may in any wa y gain or lose financial ly from the 
publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2.  Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation t hat may in any way gain or 
lose financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in t he 
future?  
 
3.  Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents  relating to the content 
of the manuscript?  
 
4.  Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization 
that holds or has applied for patents relating to the cont ent of the manuscript?  
 
5.  Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6.  Do you have any non -financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
 
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have no competing interests' 
below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
I declare that I have no competing interests  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal. I understan d that my name will be included 
on my report to the authors and, if the manusc ript is accepted f or publication, my named report 
including any attachments I upload will be posted on the website along with the authors' 
responses. I agree for my report to be made available under an Open Access Creative Commons 
CC-BY license ( http://cre ativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). I understand that any comments 
which I do not wish to be included in my named report can be in cluded as confidential comments 
to the editors, which will not be published.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the jou rnal