Table 1. Main characteristics of the eligible studies.
| Study | Region | Cancer type | Clinical stage | Duration | Follow up (month) | Number | Blinding status | Cut off | Stroma-rich (%) | Analysis | Outcome | Language | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chen Y 2015 [18] | China | OC | I–IV | 2001-2011 | Until Dec 2014 | 838 | Yes | ≥ 50% | 263 (31.4%) | Multivariate | OS | English | 7 |
| Pongsuvareeyakul T 2015 [10] | Thailand | CC | Ib–IIa | 2003-2011 | Median 73 (2-133) | 131 | Yes | ≥ 50% | 38 (29.0%) | Multivariate | OS, DFS | English | 6 |
| Lv Z 2015* [19] | China | HCC | I–IV | 2003-2013 | Until Aug 2014 | 300 | NR | ≥ 50% | 75 (25.0%) | Multivariate | OS | English | 6 |
| Zhang TH 2015 [12] | China | NSCLC | I–IV | 2007-2009 | Median 51 (1-60) | 404 | Yes | ≥ 50% | 102 (25.2%) | Multivariate | OS, DFS | English | 7 |
| Zhang X 2015 [20] | China | CRC | II–III | 2006-2010 | Until Feb 2014 | 218 | Yes | ≥ 50% | 58 (26.6%) | Multivariate | OS | Chinese | 6 |
| Liu J 2014 [11] | China | CC | Ia2–IIa | 2005-2012 | Until Jul 2013 | 184 | Yes | ≥ 50% | 37 (21.0%) | Multivariate | OS, DFS | English | 8 |
| Zhang XL 2014 [23] | China | NPC | I–IVa | 2004-2007 | Until Dec 2012 | 93 | Yes | ≥ 50% | 42 (45.2%) | Multivariate | OS, DFS | English | 6 |
| Dekker TJA 2013 [14] | Europe | BC | I–III | 1986-1991 | Median 41 (1-78) | 403 | Yes | ≥ 50% | 162 (40.2%) | Multivariate | OS, DFS | English | 7 |
| Huijbers A 2013 [21] | Europe | CRC | II–III | 2002-2004 | Median 58 (2-76) | 710 | Yes | ≥ 50% | 207 (29.2%) | Multivariate | OS, DFS | English | 7 |
| Wang ZF 2013 [13] | China | NSCLC | I–III | 2000-2007 | Until May 2012 | 73 | Yes | ≥ 50% | 27 (37.0%) | Multivariate | OS | Chinese | 6 |
| Wang K 2012 [16] | China | EC | I–III | 2007 | Until Mar 2011 | 95 | Yes | ≥ 50% | 30 (31.6%) | Multivariate | OS, DFS | English | 6 |
| de Kruijf EM 2011 [15] | Europe | BC | I–IV | 1985-1994 | Median 228 (168-288) | 574 | Yes | ≥ 50% | 388 (67.6%) | Multivariate | OS | English | 7 |
| Courrech Staal EF 2010 [17] | Europe | EC | I–IV | 1990-2004 | Median 23 (3-220) | 93 | Yes | ≥ 50% | 60 (64.5%) | Multivariate | OS, DFS | English | 8 |
| Mesker WE 2007 [22] | Europe | CRC | I–III | 1980-2001 | NR | 122 | Yes | ≥ 50% | 33 (27.0%) | Multivariate | OS, DFS | English | 6 |
*
There were two trials with two independent results in this article (sample size of 188 and 112, respectively).
NR none reported; OC ovarian cancer; CC cervical cancer; HCC hepatocellular carcinoma; NSCLC non small cell lung cancer; CRC colorectal cancer; NPC nasopharyngeal cancer; BC breast cancer; EC esophageal cancer; OS overall survival; DFS disease-free survival.