Table 1. Pooled and subgroup analyses of the main results for the meta-analysis of overall survival.
| Categories | n | Model | HR (95% CI) | Z | P | Heterogeneity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I2 | Ph | ||||||
| Overall survival (OS) | 23 (10067) | Random | 1.95 (1.70–2.25) | 9.33 | < 0.001 | 68.9% | < 0.001 |
| Study region | |||||||
| China | 15 (8371) | Random | 1.84 (1.57–2.17) | 7.41 | < 0.001 | 74.2% | < 0.001 |
| Japan | 5 (1409) | Fixed | 1.72 (1.60–1.85) | 6.85 | < 0.001 | 0.6% | 0.403 |
| Korea | 3 (287) | Random | 2.39 (1.34–4.24) | 2.96 | 0.003 | 50.9% | 0.131 |
| Cancer type | |||||||
| PC | 4 (814) | Random | 2.25 (1.52–3.34) | 4.04 | < 0.001 | 69.8% | 0.019 |
| CRC | 3 (874) | Fixed | 2.26 (1.71–2.99) | 5.70 | < 0.001 | 0.0% | 0.678 |
| NPC | 4 (4814) | Fixed | 1.50 (1.29–1.74) | 5.32 | < 0.001 | 37.1% | 0.189 |
| ESCC | 2 (891) | Random | 1.84 (1.06–3.20) | 2.18 | 0.030 | 85.6% | 0.008 |
| GC | 2 (839) | Fixed | 1.73 (1.31–2.29) | 3.87 | < 0.001 | 0.0% | 0.390 |
| HCC | 2 (364) | Fixed | 2.73 (2.07–3.60) | 7.12 | < 0.001 | 0.0% | 0.352 |
| HNC | 2 (169) | Fixed | 3.49 (1.78–6.85) | 3.63 | < 0.001 | 31.3% | 0.228 |
| Others | 4 (1302) | Fixed | 1.41 (1.24–1.60) | 5.27 | < 0.001 | 44.2% | 0.146 |
| Primary treatment | |||||||
| Surgery | 12 (3773) | Random | 2.06 (1.66–2.55) | 6.60 | < 0.001 | 71.2% | < 0.001 |
| CT | 7 (1242) | Random | 2.05 (1.49–2.81) | 4.42 | < 0.001 | 71.4% | 0.002 |
| CCRT | 3 (4666) | Random | 1.53 (1.20–1.94) | 3.43 | 0.001 | 50.8% | 0.131 |
| NR | 1 (386) | Random | 2.07 (1.59–2.70) | 5.39 | < 0.001 | NA | NA |
| Clinical stage | |||||||
| All | 17 (8231) | Random | 1.82 (1.57–2.12) | 7.82 | < 0.001 | 64.4% | < 0.001 |
| I – III | 3 (1307) | Fixed | 2.04 (1.67–2.50) | 6.94 | < 0.001 | 42.9% | 0.173 |
| Advanced | 3 (529) | Random | 2.61 (1.65–4.13) | 4.10 | < 0.001 | 66.4% | 0.051 |
| Cut-off selection | |||||||
| ROC | 18 (8745) | Random | 1.90 (1.63–2.21) | 8.37 | < 0.001 | 65.1% | < 0.001 |
| Cut-off finder | 4 (913) | Random | 2.15 (1.27–3.65) | 2.86 | 0.004 | 85.1% | < 0.001 |
| Median | 1 (409) | Random | 2.09 (1.43–3.05) | 3.84 | < 0.001 | NA | NA |
| Sample size | |||||||
| < 200 | 10 (1288) | Fixed | 2.27 (1.93–2.68) | 9.87 | < 0.001 | 0.0% | 0.459 |
| ≥ 200 | 13 (8779) | Random | 1.81 (1.52–2.15) | 6.76 | < 0.001 | 75.5% | < 0.001 |
| Cut-off value | |||||||
| < 0.1 | 11 (7138) | Random | 1.92 (1.55–2.37) | 6.04 | < 0.001 | 60.6% | 0.005 |
| ≥ 0.1 | 12 (2929) | Random | 1.98 (1.62–2.41) | 6.77 | < 0.001 | 75.4% | < 0.001 |
PC pancreatic cancer; CRC colorectal cancer; NPC nasopharyngeal carcinoma; ESCC esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; GC gastric cancer; HCC hepatocellular carcinoma; HNC head and neck cancer (including laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and oral squamous cell carcinoma); CT chemotherapy; CCRT concurrent chemoradiotherapy; ROC the receiver operating characteristic.
P denotes P value for statistical significance based on Z test; Ph denotes P value for heterogeneity based on Q test. HR hazard ratio; CI confidence interval; NA not available.