Table 2.
Meta-analyses of association between clinical behaviors and TERT promoter mutation in DTC, PTC and FTC
| Clinical parameters | No. of studies | No. of cases | Heterogeneity test | Effects model selection | OR /SMD (95 % CI) | Combined effect test | Statistical significance | Egger’s test | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| χ2 | P | I2 | Z | P | P | ||||||
| DTC | |||||||||||
| Gender (Male) | 39 | 9226 | 42.33 | 0.289 | 10.2% | Fixed | 1.68 (1.45, 1.95) | 6.88 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.261 |
| Mean age | 26 | 5732 | 493.94 | 0.000 | 94.9% | Random | 1.14 (0.70, 1.59) | 5.02 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.195 |
| Mean tumor size | 19 | 3541 | 66.82 | 0.000 | 73.1% | Random | 0.66 (0.40, 0.92) | 4.96 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.999 |
| Multifocality | 20 | 4745 | 26.53 | 0.116 | 28.4% | Fixed | 0.93 (0.75, 1.15) | 0.71 | 0.478 | No | 0.151 |
| Vascular invasion | 11 | 2092 | 5.54 | 0.852 | 0.0% | Fixed | 1.81 (1.35, 2.42) | 3.99 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.688 |
| Extrathyroidal extension | 29 | 7224 | 63.04 | 0.000 | 55.6% | Random | 2.22 (1.64, 3.00) | 5.19 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.190 |
| Lymph node metastasis | 39 | 8374 | 67.42 | 0.002 | 43.6% | Fixed | 1.53 (1.31,1.79) | 5.32 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.001 |
| Distant metastasis | 19 | 4608 | 36.51 | 0.006 | 50.7% | Random | 6.15 (4.06, 9.30) | 8.60 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.079 |
| Advanced TNM Stage (III/IV) | 27 | 7334 | 82.16 | 0.000 | 68.4% | Random | 5.68 (3.93, 8.20) | 9.26 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.827 |
| Persistence/recurrence | 24 | 4245 | 26.85 | 0.262 | 14.3% | Fixed | 5.30 (4.19, 6.71) | 13.83 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.105 |
| Disease-specific mortality | 14 | 3267 | 17.59 | 0.174 | 26.1% | Fixed | 8.29 (5.76, 11.93) | 11.37 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.146 |
| PTC | |||||||||||
| Gender (Male) | 32 | 7824 | 35.36 | 0.270 | 12.3% | Fixed | 1.80 (1.53, 2.11) | 7.14 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.471 |
| Mean age | 19 | 4742 | 485.60 | 0.000 | 96.3% | Random | 1.25 (0.66, 1.85) | 4.14 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.162 |
| Mean tumor size | 14 | 2842 | 57.77 | 0.000 | 77.5% | Random | 0.60 (0.27, 0.94) | 3.51 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.705 |
| Multifocality | 16 | 4052 | 24.20 | 0.062 | 38.0% | Fixed | 0.92 (0.73, 1.16) | 0.73 | 0.467 | No | 0.151 |
| Vascular invasion | 7 | 1742 | 6.73 | 0.347 | 10.8% | Fixed | 1.71 (1.24, 2.35) | 3.26 | 0.001 | Yes | 0.171 |
| Extrathyroidal extension | 23 | 6019 | 48.34 | 0.001 | 54.5% | Random | 2.37 (1.71, 3.27) | 5.19 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.204 |
| Lymph node metastasis | 32 | 7105 | 42.25 | 0.086 | 26.6% | Fixed | 1.64 (1.38, 1.95) | 5.62 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.007 |
| Distant metastasis | 15 | 3684 | 33.59 | 0.002 | 58.3% | Random | 6.49 (3.82, 11.01) | 6.93 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.103 |
| Advanced TNM Stage (III/IV) | 24 | 6355 | 93.91 | 0.000 | 75.5% | Random | 4.82 (3.12, 7.43) | 7.11 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.941 |
| Persistence/recurrence | 19 | 3232 | 23.18 | 0.184 | 22.3% | Fixed | 4.97 (3.78, 6.53) | 11.49 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.118 |
| Disease-specific mortality | 10 | 2808 | 15.30 | 0.083 | 41.2% | Fixed | 8.29 (5.57, 12.34) | 10.42 | 0.000 | Yes | 0.128 |
| FTC | |||||||||||
| Gender (male) | 7 | 403 | 10.01 | 0.124 | 40.0% | Fixed | 1.17 (0.64, 2.15) | 0.51 | 0.607 | No | NA |
| Mean age | 7 | 367 | 3.66 | 0.722 | 0.0% | Fixed | 0.72 (0.41, 1.03) | 4.54 | 0.000 | Yes | NA |
| Mean tumor size | 4 | 235 | 3.05 | 0.384 | 1.6% | Fixed | 0.14 (-0.26, 0.54) | 0.67 | 0.503 | No | NA |
| Multifocality | 2 | 178 | 0.18 | 0.669 | 0.0% | Fixed | 0.89 (0.19, 4.22) | 0.15 | 0.880 | No | NA |
| Vascular invasion | 3 | 193 | 0.40 | 0.819 | 0.0% | Fixed | 2.28 (0.75, 6.90) | 1.46 | 0.144 | No | NA |
| Extrathyroidal extension | 3 | 227 | 2.70 | 0.260 | 25.9% | Fixed | 1.57 (0.59, 4.15) | 0.91 | 0.363 | No | NA |
| Lymph node metastasis | 4 | 261 | 3.32 | 0.345 | 9.6% | Fixed | 1.96 (0.72, 5.37) | 1.31 | 0.190 | No | NA |
| Distant metastasis | 3 | 159 | 0.99 | 0.611 | 0.0% | Fixed | 24.29 (6.30, 93.58) | 4.63 | 0.000 | Yes | NA |
| Advanced TNM Stage (III/IV) | 3 | 207 | 0.45 | 0.798 | 0.0% | Fixed | 5.10 (1.81, 14.35) | 3.08 | 0.002 | Yes | NA |
| Persistence/recurrence | 3 | 272 | 1.67 | 0.425 | 0.0% | Fixed | 4.59 (2.08, 10.13) | 3.77 | 0.000 | Yes | NA |
| Disease-specific mortality | 4 | 278 | 0.94 | 0.815 | 0.0% | Fixed | 9.28 (3.35, 25.70) | 4.28 | 0.000 | Yes | NA |
No. number, OR odds ratio, SMD standardized mean difference, CI confidence interval, NA not applicable/not available