Table 1. General characteristics of included studies.
| Studies | Year | Cases | Method | CD133 expression rate (%) | 5-year OS (%) | P value | |
| CD133 (+) | CD133 (−) | ||||||
| Wang T [26] | 2011 | 103 | IHC | 44 | 20.8 | 43.4 | <0.01 |
| Zhao P [23] | 2010 | 336 | IHC | 57.4 | 22.8 | 57.3 | <0.01 |
| Ishigumin S [24] | 2010 | 97 | IHC | 28 | 29 | 78 | <0.01 |
| Yu JW [25] | 2010 | 99 | IHC | 29.3 | 0 | 40.4 | <0.01 |
| 31 | RT-PCR | 100 | – | – | – | ||
| Xue YM [22] | 2011 | 33 | IHC | 15.2 | – | – | – |
| 33 | RT-PCR | 100 | – | – | – | ||
| Tang BF [20] | 2008 | 38 | RT-PCR | 100 | – | – | – |
| Yan JL [21] | 2011 | 36 | RT-PCR | 66.7 | – | – | – |
| Summary | – | 742 | IHC | 44.8% | 21.4 | 55.7 | – |
| RT-PCR | 91.3% | ||||||
Abbreviations: OS, over survival; GC, gastric cancer; IHC, immunohistochemistry; RT-PCR, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.