Table 2.
Subgroup analyses of the associations between NLR and OS, DFS and pCR
| Variables | Overall survival (OS) | Disease-free survival (DFS) | pathological complete response (pCR) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No of studies | HR (95%CI) | I2, Phet | Pinteraction | No of studies | HR (95%CI) | I2, Phet | Pinteraction | No of studies | OR (95%CI) | I2, Phet | Pinteraction | |
| Total | 18 | 1.58 (1.34-1.86) | p < 0.0001 | 11 | 1.32 (1.10-1.59) | p < 0.0001 | 18 | 1.72 (1.26-2.33) | p < 0.0001 | |||
| Publication type | p = 0.63 | p = 0.28 | p = 0.24 | |||||||||
| Full text | 14 | 1.70 (1.34-2.16) | p < 0.0001 | 9 | 1.27 (1.03-1.55) | p = 0.0004 | 15 | 1.91 (1.28-2.84) | p < 0.0001 | |||
| Abstract | 4 | 1.53 (1.04-2.23) | p < 0.0001 | 2 | 1.51 (1.18-1.92) | p = 0.71 | 3 | 1.35 (0.88-2.07) | p = 0.23 | |||
| Research region | p = 0.002 | p = 0.74 | p = 0.98 | |||||||||
| Asia | 8 | 1.65 (1.15-2.35) | p = 0.05 | 5 | 1.31 (0.88-1.96) | p = 0.09 | 10 | 1.82 (1.18-2.81) | p = 0.10 | |||
| Europe | 4 | 1.18 (1.01-1.38) | p = 0.002 | 3 | 1.24 (0.94-1.63) | p < 0.0001 | 6 | 1.73 (0.92-3.27) | p = 0.001 | |||
| North America | 4 | 2.03 (1.59-2.59) | p = 0.34 | 1 | 1.59 (1.10-2.29) | - | 1 | 1.64 (1.03-2.61) | - | |||
| Others | 2 | 1.92 (1.09-3.39) | p = 0.22 | 2 | 1.44 (1.07-1.94) | p = 0.93 | 1 | 1.58 (0.80-3.12) | - | |||
| Sample size | p = 0.78 | p = 0.88 | p = 0.08 | |||||||||
| < 100 | 5 | 1.57 (0.99-2.49) | p = 0.05 | 5 | 1.37 (1.03-1.83) | p = 0.23 | 5 | 2.50 (1.63-3.83) | p = 0.56 | |||
| >100 | 13 | 1.69 (1.35-2.11) | p < 0.0001 | 6 | 1.33 (1.00-1.77) | p = 0.0006 | 13 | 1.54 (1.10-2.14) | p = 0.001 | |||
| Tumor type | p = 0.19 | p = 0.58 | p = 0.38 | |||||||||
| Bladder cancer | 3 | 1.52 (0.97-2.36) | p < 0.0001 | 2 | 1.32 (1.08-1.61) | p = 0.23 | 3 | 1.95 (1.16-3.29) | p = 0.92 | |||
| Breast cancer | 3 | 2.26 (0.82-6.28) | p = 0.03 | 3 | 1.14 (0.87-1.49) | p = 0.09 | 7 | 1.41 (0.91-2.19) | p = 0.005 | |||
| Rectal cancer | 5 | 1.93 (1.17-3.19) | p = 0.001 | 4 | 1.84 (0.94-3.60) | p = 0.003 | 7 | 2.01 (1.14-3.55) | p = 0.04 | |||
| Gastroesophageal cancer | 5 | 1.36 (0.99-1.85) | p = 0.09 | 2 | 1.34 (0.76-2.36) | p = 0.88 | 1 | 12.63 (0.68-234.59) | - | |||
| Others | 2 | 3.04 (1.64-5.64) | p = 0.98 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| Cut-off value of NLR | P = 0.43 | p = 0.05 | p = 0.27 | |||||||||
| <3 | 7 | 1.46 (1.14-1.87) | p = 0.005 | 4 | 1.44 (1.05-1.97) | p = 0.14 | 6 | 1.64 (0.97-2.77) | p = 0.35 | |||
| 3 | 8 | 1.55 (1.16-2.07) | p = 0.002 | 5 | 1.31 (1.04-1.63) | p = 0.32 | 6 | 1.52 (0.95-2.44) | p = 0.04 | |||
| >3 | 3 | 2.31 (1.20-4.43) | P = 0.01 | 1 | 4.10 (1.70-9.89) | - | 5 | 3.00 (1.48-6.12) | p = 0.08 | |||
Abbreviations: NLR: Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio; NAC: neoadjuvant chemotherapy; OR: odds ratio; HR: hazard ratios; CI: confidence interval; pCR: pathological complete response; OS: overall survival; CSS: cancer special survival; DFS: disease-free survival; RFS: recurrence-free survival; Phet: pvalue for heterogeneity