ObjectiveTo systematically review the diagnostic value of neuron specific enolase (NSE) for malignant pleural effusion. MethodsWe comprehensively searched databases including The Cochrane Library (Issue 1, 2012), EMbase, MEDLINE, CBM, CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP from inception to January 2012 to collect studies about the diagnostic value of NSE for malignant pleural effusion. Literature screening according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, data extraction and methodological quality assessment were completed by two reviewers independently. Then Meta-DiSc software (version 1.4) was used for pooling analysis. ResultsA total of 12 studies were finally included. The results of meta-analysis showed that the value of pooled specificity, sensitivity, positive likelihood radio, negative likelihood radio and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were 0.79 (0.76 to 0.84), 0.55 (0.51 to 0.59), 3.2 (1.94 to 5.29), 0.58 (0.45 to 0.74), 7.56 (3.74 to 15.30), respectively; and the area under SROC curve (AUC) was 0.813 1. ConclusionUsing NSE as a maker to diagnose malignant pleural effusion is of certain clinical value, which is used to differentiate benign and malignant pleural effusion.