TABLE 2.
Results of included studies.
| No. of studies | Hazard ratio | 95% confidence interval | p-value | I2 (%) | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall survival | 10 [23, 24, 26–33] | 1.82 | 1.31–2.54 | <0.001 | 59.5 | 0.008 |
| Pathological type | ||||||
| Squamous cell carcinoma | 5 [23, 26, 29, 31, 32] | 1.40 | 1.06–1.85 | 0.019 | 30.7 | 0.217 |
| Esophageal cancer | 5 [24, 27, 28, 30, 33] | 2.59 | 1.76–3.82 | <0.001 | 0.0 | 0.509 |
| Progression-free survival | 4 [23, 27, 32, 33] | 1.19 | 1.10–1.28 | <0.001 | 19.9 | 0.290 |
| Cancer-specific survival | 3 [24, 25, 30] | 2.67 | 1.77–4.02 | <0.001 | 0.0 | 0.494 |