Table 4. Results of the meta-analysis.
| Stratifications | No. of studies | Pooled Estimates | Model | Heterogeneity | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HR (95% CI) | P value | I2(%) | P value | ||||
| OS | 24 | 1.91 (1.71–2.14) | 0.000 | R | 60.5 | 0.000 | |
| No. of nodes | No. of nodes≥12 | 13 | 1.97 (1.71–2.26) | 0.000 | F | 35.2 | 0.101 |
| No. of nodes<12 | 8 | 1.74 (1.40–2.17) | 0.000 | R | 62 | 0.015 | |
| Location | Colon | 9 | 2.11 (1.95–2.28) | 0.000 | F | 35.1 | 0.137 |
| rectum | 5 | 2.30 (1.79–2.96) | 0.000 | F | 19.9 | 0.288 | |
| Treatment | R0 surgery +AT | 15 | 1.96 (1.73–2.22) | 0.000 | F | 8.8 | 0.355 |
| R0 surgery | 9 | 1.83 (1.52–2.20) | 0.000 | R | 81.3 | 0.000 | |
| Stage | Stage III | 15 | 1.91 (1.71–2.14) | 0.000 | R | 50.7 | 0.013 |
| DFS | 19 | 2.75 (2.14–3.53) | 0.000 | R | 71.7 | 0.000 | |
| No. of nodes | No. of nodes≥12 | 13 | 2.87 (2.18–3.77) | 0.000 | F | 48.8 | 0.062 |
| No. of nodes < 12 | 4 | 2.69 (1.32–5.50) | 0.000 | R | 81.5 | 0.001 | |
| Location | Colon | 9 | 3.49 (2.47–4.93) | 0.000 | R | 48.9 | 0.048 |
| Treatment | R0 surgery + AT | 14 | 3.06 (2.32–4.04) | 0.000 | R | 63.2 | 0.001 |
| R0 surgery | 5 | 1.91 (1.27–2.86) | 0.002 | R | 59 | 0.045 | |
| Stage | Stage III | 16 | 2.73 (2.06–3.61) | 0.000 | R | 74.6 | 0.000 |
“OS”: overall survival; “DFS”: disease free survival; “AT”: adjuvant treatment; “R”: random effects model; “F”: fixed effect model; “No. of nodes”: total number of lymph nodes harvested.