Table 1. Characteristics of reviewed meta-analyses comparing surgery versus stereotactic body radiotherapy for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer.
| First author | Year | Number of searched databases | Inclusion criteria (stage and/or period) | N (studies) | N (patients) | Comparison | Measure of effect | Survival outcomes | Other outcomes | Major findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chen | 2018 | 2 | Stage I or II, inception to 2016 | 16 | 19,882 | SABR vs. surgery | Hazard ratio | OS/DSS | Not applicable | OS: surgery favored (HR: 1.28, 95% CI: 1.06–1.56), DSS: not significantly different |
| Li | 2017 | 3 | T1–T3N0, inception to 2017 | 15 | 7,810 | Surgery vs. SBRT | Hazard ratio | OS/RFS | Local and distant controls | OS: surgery favored (HR: 1.4, 95% CI: 1.21–1.61), locoregional and distant control: not significantly different |
| Wang | 2017 | 4 | Stage I, no year limitation | 16 | 11,540 | Sublobar resection vs. SBRT | Odds ratio | OS | Local, regional, distant controls | OS: surgery favored (OR: 2.91, 95% CI: 1.94–4.38), local control: not significantly different |
| Ma | 2016 | 4 | Stage I or II, 2010–2015 | 37 | 6,869 | VATS vs. SBRT | Hazard ratio | OS/DFS | Not applicable | OS (HR: 2.02, 95% CI: 0.45–3.07) and DFS: not significantly different after adjustment |
| Zheng | 2014 | 4 | Stage I, 2000–2012 | 63 | 11,921 | Surgery vs. SBRT | Hazard ratio | OS/DFS | Local control | OS (HR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.20–1.36 for lobectomy; HR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.19–1.3 for sublobar resection) and DFS: not significantly different after adjustment |
| Zhang | 2014 | 4 | Stage I, inception –2014 | 6 | 864 | Surgery vs. SBRT | Odds ratio | OS/CSS/DFS | Local and distant controls | OS: surgery favored (OR: 1.82, 95% CI: 1.38–2.4), CSS, DFS, local control, and distant control: not significantly different |
SABR, stereotactic ablative radiation therapy; SBRT, stereotactic body radiotherapy; VATS, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery; OS, overall survival; DSS, disease specific survival; CSS, cancer specific survival; RFS, recurrence free survival; DFS, disease free survival; HR, hazard ratio; CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio.