Table 2.

Baseline patient and tumour characteristics

Study (year)	n (Q)	n (C)	Age (Q)	Age (C)	BMI (Q)	BMI (C)	Tumour stage/burden (Q)	Tumour stage/burden (C)	Key comorbidities (Q)	Key comorbidities (C)
Arafa et al., 2019 [1]	69	69	44.8 ± 7.3	49.0 ± 9.4	28.1 ± 5.1	27.0 ± 5.3	T1/T2/T3: 26.1/55.1/18.8%	T1/T2/T3: 20.3/56.5/23.2%	DM 29%; HTN 42%; smokers 14.5%	DM 26.1%; HTN 17.4%; smokers 13%
Awad et al., 2019	400	400	NR (reported comparable)	NR (reported comparable)	NR	NR	Stage distribution not given by arm	Stage distribution not given by arm	NR (not systematically reported)	NR (not systematically reported)
Khater et al., 2015 [3]	60	60	46 ± 7	44 ± 8	30.5 ± 1.8	30.9 ± 1.5	Mean tumour size 35 ± 6 mm; majority stage II-III (reported similar)	Mean tumour size 34 ± 7 mm; majority stage II-III (reported similar)	NR (authors report groups comparable)	NR (authors report groups comparable)
Myint et al., 2020 [4]	70	70	49.6 ± 11.7	51.3 ± 11.3	26.2 ± 5.4	25.3 ± 5.4	Mean tumour size ~ 5.2 cm; predominantly stage II-III (reported similar)	Mean tumour size ~ 5.0 cm; predominantly stage II-III (reported similar)	NR (groups stated similar)	NR (groups stated similar)
Ozaslan et al., 2010 [6]	50	50	51.8 ± 10.9	48.1 ± 11.4	27.1 ± 4.1	28.2 ± 4.7	Mean dissected nodes 25.4 ± 9.8; metastatic nodes 3.8 ± 5.8	Mean dissected nodes 25.2 ± 10.3; metastatic nodes 3.2 ± 6.9	HTN 20%; DM 12%; smokers 20%	HTN 26%; DM 8%; smokers 16%
Prakash (Meena) et al., 2024	36	36	Median 51 (IQR 43–56)	Median 51 (IQR 42–62)	NR	NR	TNM II/III: 50/50%	TNM II/III: 61/39%	HTN 19.4%; DM 2.7%; CAD 2.7%; thyroid 2.7%	HTN 22.2%; DM 11.1%; CAD 0%; thyroid 2.7%
Jayalal et al., 2025 [10]	21	21	50.8 ± 7.2	52.7 ± 6.9	22.9 ± 4.2	22.7 ± 4.1	TNM I/II/III: 23.8/60/14.2%; menopause 57.1% postmenopausal	TNM I/II/III: 28.5/52.3/19%; menopause 47.6% postmenopausal	NR	NR

Abbreviations: BMI body mass index, CAD coronary artery disease, DM diabetes mellitus, HTN hypertension, NR not reported