Table 1. Summary of available studies for the comparison (CR+PR) vs (SD+PD).

Marker	Clinical question	Studies, n	Study	Stages	Second marker measurementa	Responders/non-responders, n	SN/SP available	AUC available
			Trapé et al, 2003	IIIA, IIIB, IV	—	24/24	Yes	No
			Wang et al, 2011	I, II, III, IV	—	57/51	Yes	No
	Prediction	5	Pang et al, 2013	I, II, IIIA, IIIB, IV	—	110/162	Yes	No
			Liu et al, 2014	I, II, III, IV	—	100/176	Yes	No
			Wang et al, 2010	I, II, III, IV	—	79/48	Yes	Yes
			Salgia et al, 2001	III/IIIB, IVb	2 months after chemo	11/26	Yes	No
			Jin et al, 2010	IIIB, IV	After second cycle	27/84	Yes	No
CEA			Ardizzoni et al, 2006	III, IV	After second cycle	47/60	Yes	Yes
			Yang et al, 2012	IIIB, IV	After second cycle	45/53	Yes	Yes
	Treatment	8	Arrieta et al, 2013	III, IV	After second cycle	51/129	Yes	Yes
	monitoring		Ishiguro et al, 2010	IB, IIB, IIIA, IIIB	After chemo, before surgery	11/13	Yes	No
			Pang et al, 2013	I, II, IIIA, IIIB, IV	3 weeks after second/fourth cycle	110/150	Yes	Yes
			Liu et al, 2014	I, II, III, IV	After second cycle	100/176	Yes	Yes
			Trapé et al, 2003	IIIA, IIIB, IV	—	24/24	Yes	No
			Wang et al, 2011	I, II, III, IV	—	57/51	Yes	No
	Prediction	4	Pang et al, 2013	I, II, IIIA, IIIB, IV	—	103/125	Yes	No
			Wang et al, 2010	I, II, III, IV	—	79/48	Yes	Yes
			Nisman et al, 2008	IIIA, IIIB, IV	After second cycle	10/35	Yes	No
CYFRA 21-1			Jin et al, 2010	IIIB, IV	After second cycle	27/84	Yes	No
			Merle et al, 2004	IIIA, IIIB	After first cycle	26/18	Yes	Yes
	Treatment	7	Ardizzoni et al, 2006	III, IV	After second cycle	47/60	Yes	Yes
	monitoring		Yang et al, 2012	IIIB, IV	After second cycle	45/53	Yes	Yes
			Wang et al, 2011	I, II, III, IV	After second cycle	57/51	Yes	Yes
			Pang et al, 2013	I, II, IIIA, IIIB, IV	3 weeks after second/fourth cycle	97/117	Yes	Yes

					Patients with corresponding stage, nc
Marker	Clinical question	Studies, n	Study	Stages	I	IB	II	IIB	III	IIIA	IIIB	IV	Unknown	Patients with stage III–IV, %
			Trapé et al, 2003	IIIA, IIIB, IV						10	17	21		100
			Wang et al, 2011	I, II, III, IV	1		5		64			38		94.4
	Prediction	5	Pang et al, 2013	I, II, IIIA, IIIB, IV	34		44			27	28	143		71.7
			Liu et al, 2014	I, II, III, IV	39		43		137			401	69	86.8
			Wang et al, 2010	I, II, III, IV	5		14		66			42		85.0
			Salgia et al, 2001	III/IIIB, IVb	(68)		(23)		46			79		100d
CEA			Jin et al, 2010	IIIB, IV							39	72		100
			Ardizzoni et al, 2006	III, IV					41			76		100
	Treatment	8	Yang et al, 2012	IIIB, IV					53			45		100
	monitoring		Arrieta et al, 2013	III, IV					28			152		100
			Ishiguro et al, 2010	IB, IIB, IIIA, IIIB		1		5		15	3			75.0
			Pang et al, 2013	I, II, IIIA, IIIB, IV	34		44			27	28	143		71.7
			Liu et al, 2014	I, II, III, IV	39		43					401	69	86.8
			Trapé et al, 2003	IIIA, IIIB, IV						10	17	21		100
			Wang et al, 2011	I, II, III, IV	1		5		64			38		94.4
	Prediction	4	Pang et al, 2013	I, II, IIIA, IIIB, IV	34		44			27	28	143		71.7
			Wang et al, 2010	I, II, III, IV	5		14		66			42		85.0
			Nisman et al, 2008	IIIA, IIIB, IV						5	18	37		100
CYFRA 21-1			Jin et al, 2010	IIIB, IV							39	72		100
			Merle et al, 2004	IIIA, IIIB						18	26			100
	Treatment monitoring	7	Ardizzoni et al, 2006	III, IV					41			76		100
			Yang et al, 2012	IIIB, IV					53			45		100
			Wang et al, 2011	I, II, III, IV	1		5		64			38		94.4
			Pang et al, 2013	I, II, IIIA, IIIB, IV	34		44			27	28	143		71.7

Marker	Clinical question	Studies, n	Study	Stages	Tumour response criteria	Time of evaluation
			Trapé et al, 2003	IIIA, IIIB, IV	WHO	Unknown
			Wang et al, 2011	I, II, III, IV	WHO	6–8 weeks post-tx
	Prediction	5	Pang et al, 2013	I, II, IIIA, IIIB, IV	RECIST	2 months post-tx
			Liu et al, 2014	I, II, III, IV	RECIST	After second cycle
			Wang et al, 2010	I, II, III, IV	WHO	2 months post-tx
			Salgia et al, 2001	III/IIIB, IVb	Unknown	Unknown
			Jin et al, 2010	IIIB, IV	RECIST	After second cycle
			Ardizzoni et al, 2006	III, IV	WHO	After second cycle
	Treatment monitoring	8	Yang et al, 2012	IIIB, IV	WHO, RECIST	After second cycle
CEA			Arrieta et al, 2013	III, IV	RECIST	After second cycle
			Ishiguro et al, 2010	IB, IIB, IIIA, IIIB	RECIST	Post-chemo, presurgery
			Pang et al, 2013	I, II, IIIA, IIIB, IV	RECIST	2 months post-tx
			Liu et al, 2014	I, II, III, IV	RECIST	After second cycle
			Trapé et al, 2003	IIIA, IIIB, IV	WHO	Unknown
			Wang et al, 2011	I, II, III, IV	WHO	6–8 weeks post-tx
	Prediction	4	Pang et al, 2013	I, II, IIIA, IIIB, IV	RECIST	2 months post-tx
			Wang et al, 2010	I, II, III, IV	WHO	2 months post-tx
			Nisman et al, 2008	IIIA, IIIB, IV	Unknown	After second cycle
CYFRA 21-1			Jin et al, 2010	IIIB, IV	RECIST	After second cycle
			Merle et al, 2004	IIIA, IIIB	WHO	After second cycle
	Treatment monitoring	7	Ardizzoni et al, 2006	III, IV	WHO	After second cycle
			Yang et al, 2012	IIIB, IV	WHO, RECIST	After second cycle
			Wang et al, 2011	I, II, III, IV	WHO	6–8 weeks post-tx
			Pang et al, 2013	I, II, IIIA, IIIB, IV	RECIST	2 months post-tx

Abbreviations: AUC=area under the curve; CEA=carcinoembryonic antigen; chemo=chemotherapy; CR=complete response; CYFRA 21-1=cytokeratin-19 fragments; PD=progressive disease; PR=partial response; RECIST=Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors; SD=stable disease; SN=sensitivity; SP=specificity; tx=treatment; WHO=World Health Organization.

^aThe first marker measurement was taken pretreatment in all of the studies.

^bThe information ‘late stage (unresectable and metastatic disease)' is given.

^cInformation as given in the publication. Owing to dropouts, the number of patients considered in the analysis may be lower.

^dSeparate results for late-stage patients available.