Figure 3. Forest plot for recurrence free interval (RFI) for patients with or without HITHOC.

A random effect model was used due to significant heterogeneity of publications (I² = 56.4, P = 0.043). Effect size was assessed by Hedges’s g and 95% CI, and the RFI was in favor of HITHOC therapy (Hedges’s g = 0.591 ± 0.201, 95% CI: 0.196∼0.967, P < 0.001). Sugarbaker (A) RFI in all patients; Sugarbaker (B) RFI in the patients without radiotherapy; Sugarbaker (C) RFI in the patients with radiotherapy; Sugarbaker (D) RFI in the patients with N1 or N2 lymph node metastasis; Sugarbaker (E) RFI in the patients in N0 status.