Table 2.
Variables | Number of studies | Number of patients | Model | Outcome (OS)
|
Heterogeneity
|
||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
HR (95% CI) | P-value | I2 (%) | P-value | ||||
Ethnicity | |||||||
Non-Europeans | 16 | 30,607 | R | 0.90 (0.78–1.02) | 0.106 | 87.2 | <0.001 |
Europeans | 8 | 12,182 | R | 1.00 (0.89–1.12) | 0.958 | 72.2 | 0.001 |
Duration of drug use | |||||||
>2 years | 6 | 8,899 | F | 1.03 (0.93–1.14) | 0.617 | 0.0 | 0.576 |
<2 years | 6 | 10,812 | R | 1.01 (0.91–1.11) | 0.897 | 54.7 | 0.051 |
Cancer stage | |||||||
I/II | 11 | 2,870 | F | 0.97 (0.89–1.06) | 0.507 | 15.6 | 0.295 |
III/IV | 13 | 4,835 | R | 1.04 (0.94–1.14) | 0.468 | 59.1 | 0.003 |
Sample size | |||||||
>1,500 | 15 | 65,834 | R | 1.01 (0.94–1.08) | 0.783 | 76.7 | <0.001 |
<1,500 | 18 | 11,839 | R | 0.81 (0.66–1.00) | 0.053 | 83.5 | <0.001 |
Beta-blocker type | |||||||
Non-selective | 12 | 17,714 | R | 1.04 (0.89–1.22) | 0.596 | 75.7 | <0.001 |
Selective | 10 | 17,714 | R | 0.93 (0.83–1.05) | 0.243 | 83.5 | <0.001 |
Chronological order of drug use | |||||||
Pre-diagnostic beta-blocker use | 13 | 55,710 | R | 1.03 (0.95–1.11) | 0.493 | 74.7 | <0.001 |
Post-diagnostic beta-blocker use (time-fixed) | 7 | 6,372 | R | 0.65 (0.43–0.99) | 0.046 | 91.0 | <0.001 |
Post-diagnostic beta blocker use (time-dependent) | 2 | 2,406 | R | 0.87 (0.59–1.30) | 0.508 | 76.8 | 0.038 |
Cancer type | |||||||
Lung cancer | 7 | 10,189 | F | 1.01 (0.96–1.05) | 0.818 | 40.1 | 0.124 |
Melanoma | 2 | 4,910 | F | 0.81 (0.67–0.97) | 0.026 | 0.0 | 0.892 |
Mixed cancer | 4 | 21,494 | R | 1.00 (0.83–1.21) | 0.974 | 87.7 | <0.001 |
Colorectal cancer | 2 | 4,202 | R | 1.16 (0.84–1.61) | 0.353 | 51.3 | 0.152 |
Ovarian cancer | 5 | 3,140 | R | 0.59 (0.36–0.96) | 0.034 | 88.0 | <0.001 |
Breast cancer | 6 | 16,637 | R | 0.97 (0.78–1.21) | 0.783 | 61.20 | 0.024 |
Pancreatic cancer | 2 | 16,096 | R | 0.85 (0.75–0.97) | 0.014 | 71.10 | 0.063 |
Abbreviations: F, fixed-effects model; R, random-effects model; OS, overall survival.