Table 3.
Subgroup analysis on the outcome of PFS.
| Comparison | Studies | HR(95%CI) | Pz-value | I2 | PH-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Asian | 16 | 1.30(0.86,1.97) | 0.209 | 75.8 | 0.000 |
| Non-Asian | 10 | 1.04(1.00,1.07) | 0.040 | 0.0 | 0.670 | |
| Sample size | <100 | 16 | 0.98(0.72,1.34) | 0.921 | 70.4 | 0.000 |
| >100 | 10 | 1.14(0.83,1.56) | 0.423 | 50.4 | 0.033 | |
| IHC counting method | SI | 8 | 1.22(0.73,2.05) | 0.451 | 77.3 | 0.000 |
| SP | 15 | 0.89(0.74,1.08) | 0.226 | 0.0 | 0.478 | |
| IRS | 3 | 2.22(0.75,6.53) | 0.149 | 87.7 | 0.000 | |
| Cut-off values |
1% | 8 | 0.75(0.55,1.02) | 0.065 | 0.0 | 0.669 |
| 5% | 2 | 0.76(0.43,1.36) | 0.361 | 0.0 | 0.947 | |
| Others | 16 | 1.25(0.94,1.65) | 0.120 | 74.4 | 0.000 | |
| Cancer type | Ovarian | 10 | 1.14(0.87,1.49) | 0.360 | 62.0 | 0.005 |
| Cervical | 9 | 0.87(0.54,1.39) | 0.561 | 68.6 | 0.001 | |
| Endometrial | 7 | 1.27(0.70,2.30) | 0.431 | 56.1 | 0.034 | |
| Antibody type | Monoclonal | 22 | 0.95(0.73,1.22) | 0.665 | 52.1 | 0.002 |
| Unclear | 4 | 1.65(0.90,3.01) | 0.106 | 86.3 | 0.000 | |
| Antibody source | Mouse | 3 | 0.79(0.26,2.41) | 0.684 | 85.7 | 0.001 |
| Rabbit | 19 | 0.99(0.79,1.24) | 0.894 | 28.5 | 0.120 | |
| Unclear | 4 | 1.65(0.90,3.01) | 0.106 | 86.3 | 0.000 | |
| IHC detection area | Tumor cells | 17 | 1.16(0.86,1.56) | 0.337 | 59.8 | 0.001 |
| TICs | 7 | 1.05(0.68,1.61) | 0.830 | 54.4 | 0.041 | |
| Tumor cells + TICs | 2 | 0.60(0.29,1.24) | 0.167 | 75.7 | 0.043 | |
| HR method | MV | 7 | 1.46(0.82,2.62) | 0.201 | 68.4 | 0.004 |
| UV | 19 | 0.95(0.76,1.20) | 0.661 | 62.3 | 0.000 | |
| HR source | Reported | 16 | 1.29(1.00,1.67) | 0.052 | 67.1 | 0.000 |
| Estimated | 10 | 0.65(0.50,0.84) | 0.001 | 3.3 | 0.409 | |
OS, overall survival; UV, univariate analysis; MV, multivariate analysis; SP, staining percentage; SI, staining intensity score; IRS, immunoreactive SI (that is, IRS = SI × SP); HR, hazard ratio; CI, confidence interval; IHC, immunohistochemistry; TIC, tumor-infiltrating immune cells. PZ, p-value for association; PH, p-value for heterogeneity obtained by Q-test; I2, the degree of heterogeneity by I2 statistic. Bold indicated the significance after analysis of two or more than two studies (p < 0.05).