Table 2. Basic characteristics of the included studies.
| First author | Year | Country | Patients | Median Age | Methods | Follow up | Cutoff value | HR estimation | NOS score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xian-Shuo Cheng | 2014 | China | 213 | 62 | IHC | 61 months | Score>4 | Survival curves for OS | 8 |
| Zhi-Yuan Chen | 2014 | China | 176 | 58 | Magnetic Beads | 19.6 months | 9.58 pg/mL | HR for OS | 6 |
| Maressa A. Bruhn | 2014 | Australia | 155 | NA | MPA | 30.2 months | 1.21 pg/mL | HR for OS | 5 |
| Trevor D Hamilton | 2014 | Canada | 70 | 61 | MPA | 20 months | NA | HR for OS | 7 |
| Yingmiao Liu | 2013 | America | 38 | 53.5 | ELISA | 40 months | NA | HR for OS | 6 |
| Shimazaki J | 2013 | Japan | 46 | 70.3 | ELISA | NA | 8.0 pg/ml | HR for OS | 6 |
| Stefanie Bunger* | 2012 | Germany | 164 | 69.6 | biochips | NA | 39.5pg/ml | NA | 7 |
| T Kantola | 2012 | Finland | 115 | 67.9 | Cytokine Panel | NA | NA | NA | 7 |
| ZHI YAN* | 2012 | China | 48 | 58.6 | PCR | 80 months | NA | HR for OS | 7 |
| Oladipo | 2011 | The UK | 228 | 64 | IHC | 68 months | ≥2 cores positive | HR for OS | 8 |
| Dietrich Doll | 2010 | Germany | 90 | 64 | PCR | 76 months | 2.41a | Survival curves for OS | 8 |
| Charles Bailey | 2007 | The UK | 22 | NA | RPA | NA | Grade>2 | NA | 6 |
| Daniel Vallbohmer | 2005 | America | 33 | 64 | PCR | 7.1 months | 4.81*10^-3b | HR for OS | 6 |
| H. Terada | 2005 | Japan | 87 | NA | ELISA | 60 months | 3,000 pg/mg | HR for OS | 7 |
| TAKASHI UEDA | 1994 | Japan | 24 | NA | ELISA | NA | 50% | NA | 6 |
IHC, immunohistochemistry; MPA, multiplex protein assay; RPA, ribonuclease protection assay; HR, hazard ratio; OS, overall survival; NOS, Newcastle–Ottawa quality assessment scale
a Relative to hypoxanthine-phosphoribosyl-transferase
b Relative to β-actin
*Date from the same study mentioned before.