Abstract: Objective To evaluate the significance of vascular endothelial growth factor（VEGF）and carcinoembryonic antigen（CEA）levels in the pleural fluid for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant pleural effusion in adult patients. Methods A computer search was carried out with four electronic databases（PubMed，China Zhiwang，Wanfang and VIP）. A total of 12 studies on the value of VEGF and CEA levels for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant pleural effusion were identified；of which nine met the inclusion criteria were included in the Meta-analysis of this study. Results Stata12.1 data analysis revealed that the level of VEGF in malignant pleural effusion was significantly higher（Z = 8. 04，P = 0. 000 < 0. 05）than that in benign pleural effusion，with an average increase of 1. 92 ng/mL，95% CI（1. 45，2. 39）. The level of CEA in malignant pleural effusion was also significantly higher（Z = 12. 3，P = 0. 000 < 0. 05）than that in benign pleural effusion，withan average increase of 1. 36 ng/mL，95% CI（1. 15，1. 58）. Conclusion The results of this analysis indicate that malignant pleural effusion is associated with higher levels of VEGF and CEA in pleural effusion. The VEGF and CEA levels in the pleural fluid may be valuable biomarkers for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant pleural effusion.

Key words: pleural effusion, biomarkers, Meta-analysis, vascular endothelial growth factor（VEGF）, carcinoembryonic antigen（CEA）