Table 1. Characteristics of included studies.
| NO | Author | Country | Research center | Study period | Cases | Specimen method | Expression difference | Histology gradec (1,2/3) | LNMa | Tumor sizeb (cm) cut-off | ERa | HER-2a | 5-year OS (dead/alive)d | NOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vlodavsky I 1999 [10] | Israel | Hadassah-Hebrew University Hospital | NA | 9 | tissue PCR | BC VS NT | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 4 |
| 2 | Maxhimer J 2002[16] | USA | Rush Presbyterian St Luke's Medical Center | NA | 67 | tissue IHC | BC VS NT BC VS BBT | NA | P(16/30) N(5/21) | L(18/30) S(3/21) 1 cm | NA | NA | NA | 4 |
| 3 | Zhang Y 2003[24] | China | Changhai Hospital & Changzheng Hospital | 1995-2001 | 108 | tissue IHC | BC VS BCAT | H(13/15) L(19/39) | P(24/33) N(8/21) | L(25/35) S(7/19) 2 cm | P(15/29) N(17/25) | NA | H(13:19) L(3:19) | 8 |
| 4 | Liu Z 2004[25] | China | Henan Provincial Tumor Hospital | 1993-1997 | 120 | tissue IHC | BC VS BCAT | H(37/37) L(41/83) | P(65/78) N(13/42) | L(69/93) S(9/27) 2 cm | NA | NA | H(34:44) L(3:39) | 5 |
| 5 | Maxhimer J 2005[17] | USA | Rush University Medical Center | NA | 57 | tissue IHC | BC VS NT | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 5 |
| 6 | Zhao J 2006[27] | China | The Third Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University | 1998-2003 | 90 | tissue PCR | NA | H(20/21) L(33/59) | P(32/39) N(21/41) | L(41/54) S(12/26) 2 cm | NA | NA | NA | 4 |
| 7 | Imada T 2006[26] | Japan | Okayama University Hospital | 2000-2002 | 103 | tissue IHC | NA | NA | P(15/26) N(17/71) | L(14/32) S(15/27) 2 cm | P(27/73) N(8/30) | P(17/40) N(16/53) | NA | 8 |
| 8 | Theodoro T 2007[29] | Brazil | Faculdade de Medicina do ABC | NA | 50 | serum PCR | BC VS NT | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 4 |
| 9 | Li Y 2007[28] | China | Liaohua Hospital | 1995-2006 | 116 | tissue IHC | BC VS BBT | NA | P(51/59) N(13/37) | L(39/46) S(25/50) 3 cm | NA | NA | NA | 6 |
| 10 | Davidson B 2007[23] | Norway | National Hospital-Norwegian Radium Hospital | 1998-2002 | 41 | tissue IHC | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | H(78 me) L(116 m) | 6 |
| 11 | Cohen I 2007[18] | Israel | Hadassah Medical Center | NA | 214 | tissue IHC | BC VS NT | NA | NA | NA | P(59/136) N(12/78) | NA | NA | 6 |
| 12 | Zheng X 2008[31] | China | The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University | 2004-2005 | 81 | tissue IHC | BC VS BBT | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 6 |
| 13 | Wang H 2008[30] | China | The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University | 2007-2007 | 62 | tissue PCR | BC VS BCAT(> 5cm) | H(5/6) L(14/25) | P(15/18) N(4/13) | L(18/24) S(1/7) 2 cm | P(15/24) N(4/7) | P(17/25) N(2/6) | 8 | |
| 14 | Huan D 2010[33] | China | Fengtian Affiliated Hospital of Shenyang Medical College | 2002-2007 | 110 | tissue IHC | BC VS BCAT(>5cm) | H(10/12) L(34/49) | P(26/34) N(29/46) | L(42/59) S(13/21) 2 cm | NA | NA | NA | 5 |
| 15 | Chen L 2010[32] | China | Liaoning Tumor Hospital | 1995-2009 | 95 | tissue IHC | BC VS BCAT(>5cm) | H(29/29) L(35/66) | P(46/50) N(18/45) | L(27/30) S(37/65) 3 cm | NA | NA | H(22:42) L(3:28) | 5 |
| 16 | Wang H 2012[34] | China | The First Hospital of China Medical University | 2007-2009 | 124 | tissue IHC | BC VS BCAT(>5cm) | H(23/26) L(43/68) | P(48/56) N(15/38) | L(27/34) S(39/60) 3 cm | NA | NA | NA | 7 |
| 17 | Wang X 2012[35] | China | Zhumadian First People's Hospital | 2010-2010 | 180 | tissue IHC | BC VS BCAT (<2cm,>5cm) | H(17/17) L(25/43) | P(28/32) N(13/28) | L(33/39) S(8/21) 2 cm | NA | NA | NA | 8 |
| 18 | Tang D 2013[22] | China | The Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University | 2004-2006 | 239 | tissue IHC | BC VS BCAT | NA | P(34/46) N(32/59) | L(51/71) S(15/34) 2 cm | P(39/63) N(27/42) | P(20/30) N(46/75) | H(18:48) L(6:33) | 7 |
| 19 | Tang D 2014[37] | China | Tumor Hospital of Harbin Medical University | 2011-2012 | 225 | tissue IHC | NA | H(49/65) L(52/91) | P(64/86) N(37/70) | L(64/89) S(37/67) 2 cm | P(35/60) N(66/96) | P(31/42) N(70/114) | NA | 7 |
| 20 | Gawthorpe S 2014[36] | UK | Russell's Hall Hospital | 2000-2004 | 236 | tissue IHC | NA | NA | NA | L(18/33) S(21/71) 2 cm | NA | NA | NA | 7 |
| 21 | Zhang P 2015[38] | China | The Third Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University | 2013-2013 | 100 | tissue PCR | BC VS BCAT | NA | P(27/32) N(8/18) | NA | NA | NA | NA | 8 |
| 22 | Yue X 2016[40] | China | First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College | 2006-2010 | 400 | tissue IHC | BC VS BCAT | H(54/61) L(74/139) | P(83/104) N(48/96) | L(88/109) S(43/91) 2 cm | NA | NA | NA | 8 |
| 23 | Song H 2016[39] | China | The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University | 2012-2014 | 78 | tissue IHC | NA | NA | P(29/36) N(25/42) | L(42/56) S(12/22) 2 cm | P(41/55) N(13/23) | P(47/58) N(7/20) | NA | 6 |
aP: Positive; N: Negative
bL: Large; S: Small
cH: High grade (3); L: Low grade (1,2)
dH: High expression; L: Low expression
em: Month.
PCR: Polymerase chain reaction; IHC: Immunohistochemistry; NA: Not available; BC: Breast cancer; NT: Normal tissue; BBT: Benign breast tumor; BCAT: Breast cancer adjacent tissue; NOS: Newcastle-Ottawa Scale