ObjectivesTo systematically review the value of cross-linked carboxy-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP) in the diagnosis of bone metastases of lung cancer.MethodsThe Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMbase, WanFang Data and CBM databases were electronically searched to collect studies on ICTP in the diagnosis of lung cancer bone metastases from inception to November 2017. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies by QUADAS-2 standard. Meta-analysis was performed by using Meta-Disc 1.4 software.ResultsA total of 8 studies involving 781 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnosis odds ratio and area under the curve of summary receiver operating characteristics were 71% (95%CI 0.65 to 0.76), 80% (95%CI 0.76 to 0.84), 3.79 (95%CI 2.31 to 6.21), 0.35 (95%CI 0.25 to 0.49), 14.67 (95%CI 6.99 to 30.81) and 0.860 3, respectively.ConclusionsICTP cooperate with imaging tests may be accurate and practical in diagnosis of bone metastases of lung cancer. Due to the limited quality and quantity of included studies, the above results should be validated by more studies.