Table 1.

Characteristics of the meta-analyses that investigated the value of neoadjuvant chemoradiation in resectable esophageal cancer

	Meta-analysis
Characteristcs	Urschel and Vasan [9]	Kaklamanos et al. [8]	Fiorica et al. [7]	Malthaner et al. [35]	Greer et al. [16]	Gebski et al. [6]
Study period	Not stated	1960–2002	1970–2002	1966–2003	1966–2003	1980 onward
Primary endpoint	OR 1-2-3 year survival	Absolute % difference in 2-year survival	OR 3-year overall mortality	RR of death at 1 year	RR of death	HR all-cause mortality and absolute 2-year survival
Main outcomes	Concurrent CRT improves 3-year survival, trend toward increased treatment mortality for CRT	CRT does not improve survival; non significant increase in treatment-related mortality	CRT improves 3-year survival; increased postoperative mortality	No difference in risk of mortality at 1 year for CRT, but there was a difference at 3 years	CRT does not improve overall survival	Significant survival benefit of CRT

RCT randomized controlled trial, CRT chemoradiotherapy, OR odds ratio, RR relative risk, HR hazard ratio