Table 3.
Subgroup analysis of vascular invasion, tumor encapsulation, and TNM by methods or sample
| Subgroups | No of studies | No of patients | Pooled OR (95% CI) | PHet | I2 (%) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vascular invasion | ||||||
| Methods | ||||||
| RT-PCR | 4 | 344 | 0.90 (0.23–3.64) | 0.040 | 76.0 | 0.888 |
| IHC | 4 | 439 | 1.95 (1.30–2.92) | 0.024 | 35.9 | 0.013 |
| Sample size | ||||||
| ≤100 | 5 | 412 | 1.81 (1.26–2.62) | 0.126 | 44.3 | 0.024 |
| >100 | 3 | 371 | 1.20 (0.25–5.76) | 0.001 | 85.9 | 0.819 |
| Tumor encapsulation | ||||||
| Methods | ||||||
| RT-PCR | 5 | 344 | 1.64 (0.63–4.24) | 0.029 | 68.8 | 0.311 |
| IHC | 3 | 379 | 0.58 (0.37–0.90) | 0.348 | 5.0 | 0.015 |
| Sample size | ||||||
| ≤100 | 4 | 471 | 0.94 (0.52–1.69) | 0.002 | 79.9 | 0.640 |
| >100 | 4 | 252 | 0.70 (0.46–1.05) | 0.741 | 0 | 0.086 |
| TNM stage | ||||||
| Methods | ||||||
| RT-PCR | 4 | 344 | 0.55 (0.22–1.38) | 0.031 | 66.1 | 0.201 |
| IHC | 4 | 403 | 0.53 (0.22–1.27) | 0.021 | 69.3 | 0.155 |
| Sample size | ||||||
| ≤100 | 5 | 276 | 2.91 (0.26–1.89) | 0.013 | 68.4 | 0.458 |
| >100 | 3 | 471 | 0.40 (0.20–0.81) | 0.064 | 63.7 | 0.011 |
Abbreviations: IHC, immunohistochemistry; OR, odds ratio; RT-PCR, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; PHet, probability of heterogeneity.