ObjectiveTo systematically review the diagnostic accuracy of C-arm cone-beam CT (CBCT)-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB) for lung nodules. MethodsWe electronically searched databases including PubMed, EMbase, EBSCO, Ovid, CBM, VIP, WanFang Data and CNKI from inception to Feb 28th, 2015, to collect diagnostic studies of CBCT-guided PTNB for lung nodules. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the methodological quality of included studies by QUADAS-1 tool. Then, meta-analysis was performed by Stata 12.0 and Meta-DiSc 1.4 softwares for calculating pooled sensitivity (Sen), specificity (Spe), positive likelihood ration (+LR), negative likelihood ration (-LR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), drawing summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve and estimating area under the curve (AUC). ResultsA total of 9 studies involving 1 815 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that the pooled Sen, Spe, +LR,-LR, and DOR were 0.95 (95%CI 0.92 to 0.96), 1.00 (95%CI 0.66 to 1.00), 2 076.58 (95%CI 1.8 to 2.3e+0.6), 0.05 (95%CI 0.04 to 0.08), and 39 443.88 (95%CI 30.53 to 5.1e+0.7), respectively. The AUC of SROC was 0.97 (95%CI 0.95 to 0.98). ConclusionCBCT-guided PTNB can be used as one of the primary examination approaches for lung nodules with relatively high diagnostic accuracy. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.