Table 2. Meta-analysis results of PLR in esophageal cancer prognosis.
| Factor | No. of study | No. of patients | Effect model | HR (95% CI) | P value | Heterogeneity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I2 (%) | Ph | ||||||
| OS | |||||||
| Overall | 13 | 4,621 | Fix | 1.283 (1.173, 1.404) | 0.000 | 49.4 | 0.022 |
| Random | 1.321 (1.146, 1.523) | 0.000 | |||||
| Country | |||||||
| China | 10 | 4,136 | Fix | 1.271 (1.158, 1.396) | 0.000 | 55.8 | 0.016 |
| Random | 1.300 (1.113, 1.520) | 0.001 | |||||
| Japan | 2 | 332 | Fix | 1.243 (0.852, 1.814) | 0.260 | 0.0 | 0.907 |
| Random | 1.243 (0.852, 1.814) | 0.260 | |||||
| Treatment | |||||||
| Surgery | 3 | 1,546 | Fix | 1.339 (1.164, 1.540) | 0.000 | 73.2 | 0.024 |
| Random | 1.407 (1.018, 1.945) | 0.039 | |||||
| Mix | 9 | 2,255 | Fix | 1.255 (1.102, 1.430) | 0.001 | 48.6 | 0.049 |
| Random | 1.317 (1.073, 1.615) | 0.008 | |||||
| Cutoff value | |||||||
| ≥150 | 8 | 2,581 | Fix | 1.407 (1.233, 1.606) | 0.000 | 56.1 | 0.026 |
| Random | 1.413 (1.136, 1.758) | 0.002 | |||||
| <150 | 5 | 2,040 | Fix | 1.187 (1.050, 1.341) | 0.006 | 7.4 | 0.365 |
| Random | 1.189 (1.042, 1.356) | 0.010 | |||||
| Sample size | |||||||
| ≥300 | 7 | 3,834 | Fix | 1.261 (1.147, 1.388) | 0.000 | 56.9 | 0.031 |
| Random | 1.273 (1.095, 1.479) | 0.002 | |||||
| <300 | 6 | 787 | Fix | 1.461 (1.124, 1.908) | 0.005 | 42.5 | 0.122 |
| Random | 1.564 (1.085, 2.254) | 0.016 | |||||
| Pathologic type | |||||||
| ESCC | 10 | 3,605 | Fix | 1.267 (1.150, 1.396) | 0.000 | 50.4 | 0.034 |
| Random | 1.281 (1.098, 1.493) | 0.002 | |||||
| Other types* | 3 | 1,016 | 1.386 (1.093, 1.759) | 0.007 | 60.7 | 0.078 | |
| 1.717 (1.014, 2.906) | 0.044 | ||||||
*, the article included other pathologic types except squamous cell carcinoma or with a mixed type. OS, overall survival; ESCC, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; HR, hazard ratio; CI, confidence interval; Mix, mixed treatment, combing different treatment methods, including surgery, radiotherapy, chemoradiotherapy or chemotherapy.