Table 2.

Study characteristics of included randomized controlled studies n (%)

Ref.	Design	Diagnosis	Palliative SEMS (n)	Palliative surgery (n)	Matching	Female	Study quality (modified Jadad score)
Xinopoulos et al[20]	RCT	a,b	15	15	NC	14 (46.7)	High
Fiori et al[21]	RCT	a	11	11	1, 2, 4	9 (40.9)	High
van Hooft et al[22]	RCT	a	11	10	1, 2, 4, 5	10 (47.6)	High

Study design is randomized controlled trial (RCT); diagnosis is colorectal cancer (a) or ovarian cancer (b); matching for age (1), sex (2), tumor site (4), tumor stage (5), or the publication made no comment (NC) on the matching status; all studies were classified as high-quality according to the modified Jadad score between 4 and 7. SEMS: Self-expanding metallic stents.