Table 1.
A summary of the 32 studies included in the meta-analysis and the associated prognostic factors examined
| Study | Total number | BRAF mutation (%) | Gender | Age | Size | LNM | ETE | Clinical stage | Histological subtype | Multifocality | Absence of tumor capsule | Vascular invasion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adeniran et al., 2006 (9) | 96 | 41.7 | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N |
| Basolo et al., 2010 (10) | 1060 | 44.6 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | N |
| Czarniecka et al., 2010 (27) | 88 | 43.2 | Y | N | N | Y | Y | N | N | Y | N | N |
| Elisei et al., 2008 (36) | 102 | 37.3 | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | N | Y |
| Frasca et al., 2008 (11) | 323 | 38.7 | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N |
| Fugazzola et al., 2004 (14) | 56 | 32.1 | Y | Y | N | Y | N | Y | N | Y | N | N |
| Goutas et al., 2008 (40) | 55 | 27.3 | Y | Y | N | Y | N | Y | N | N | N | N |
| Guan et al., 2009 (12) | 1032 | 61.9 | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N |
| Ito et al., 2009 (15) | 631 | 38.4 | Y | N | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | N | N | N |
| Jo et al., 2006 (28) | 161 | 63.4 | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N |
| Jung et al., 2010 (29) | 210 | 77.1 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | N | N |
| Kim et al., 2005 (30) | 79 | 81.0 | Y | Y | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N |
| Kim et al., 2006 (13) | 103 | 33.0 | Y | N | N | Y | N | Y | N | N | N | N |
| Kim et al., 2006 (32) | 203 | 73.4 | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | N | N |
| Kim et al., 2009 (31) | 101 | 87.1 | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N |
| Kwak et al., 2009 (22) | 339 | 62.8 | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | N | N |
| Lee et al., 2009 (25) | 64 | 37.5 | Y | N | N | Y | Y | N | Y | N | Y | N |
| Lee et al., 2006 (33) | 100 | 58.0 | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | Y |
| Lin et al., 2010 (34) | 61 | 34.4 | Y | N | N | Y | Y | N | N | Y | N | N |
| Liu et al., 2005 (23) | 105 | 46.7 | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N |
| Nakayama et al., 2007 (19) | 40 | 65.0 | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N |
| Namba et al., 2003 (7) | 126 | 30.2 | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N |
| O'Neill et al., 2010 (41) | 101 | 59.4 | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Oler et al., 2009 (24) | 120 | 48.3 | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | N | N | Y | N | N |
| Pelizzo et al., 2011 (20) | 141 | 69.5 | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N |
| Riesco-Eizaguirre et al., 2006 (37) | 67 | 41.8 | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N |
| Sapio et al., 2006 (38) | 43 | 44.2 | Y | N | N | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | N | N |
| So et al., 2011 (21) | 71 | 62.0 | N | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N |
| Sykorova et al., 2010 (39) | 242 | 33.5 | Y | Y | N | Y | N | Y | N | Y | Y | Y |
| Xing et al., 2009 (12) | 190 | 38.4 | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | N | N |
| Xu et al., 2003 (42) | 56 | 37.5 | Y | N | N | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N |
| Yip et al., 2009 (16) | 206 | 51.5 | Y | N | N | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | N | N |
| Total (patients, prevalence, number of studies examined) | 6372 | 50.9 | 30 | 9 | 4 | 31 | 22 | 22 | 11 | 18 | 4 | 4 |
Y indicates that the study was evaluated for the corresponding prognostic factor; N indicates that the study was not evaluated for the corresponding prognostic factor.