Table 2.
Sensitivity analysis.
| Strata of Sensitivity-Analysis Results for Each End Point | Subgroup (n) | References | RR (95% CI) | p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exclusion of NCDB studies | ||||
| 1-year OS | Only RCTs (958) | [15,17,18] | 0.60 [0.47, 0.78] | 0.0001 |
| 3-year OS | Only RCTs (958) | [15,17,18] | 0.79 [0.71, 0.88] | <0.0001 |
| Exclusion of low-quality studies | ||||
| 1-year OS | Only high quality (8338) | [16,18,19,17,22] | 0.74 [0.61, 0.89] | 0.002 |
| 3-year OS | Only high quality (8338) | [16,18,19,17,22] | 0.85 [0.77, 0.95] | 0.003 |
| 1-year PFS | Only high quality (861) | [15,17,18] | 0.71 [0.55, 0.91] | 0.007 |
| 3-year PFS | Only high quality (861) | [15,17,18] | 0.77 [0.63, 0.95] | 0.01 |
| Exclusion of studies without metastatic disease | ||||
| 1-year OS | Only metastatic patients (7625) | [16,17,18,20] | 0.76 [0.61, 0.94] | 0.01 |
| 3-year OS | Only metastatic patients (7625) | [16,17,18,20] | 0.89 [0.81, 0.97] | 0.01 |
| 1-year PFS | Only metastatic patients (148) | [17,18] | 0.82 [0.64, 1.05] | 0.11 |
| 3-year PFS | Only metastatic patients (148) | [17,18] | 0.86 [0.74, 1.01] | 0.07 |
| Exclusion of studies with RT alone as control arm | ||||
| 1-year OS | Only patients treated with ICI as control arm (4151) | [18,19,17,20,22] | 0.78 [0.61, 0.98] | 0.04 |
| 3-year OS | Only patients treated with ICI as control arm (4151) | [18,19,17,20,22] | 0.90 [0.82, 0.99] | 0.04 |
| 1-year PFS | Only patients treated with ICI as control arm (245) | [17,18] | 0.80 [0.68, 0.95] | 0.01 |
| 3-year PFS | Only patients treated with ICI as control arm (245) | [17,18] | 0.90 [0.81, 1.00] | 0.05 |
| Exclusion of studies with < 20 % rate of PD-L1 negative | ||||
| 1-year OS | Only studies with a rate > 20% of PD-L1 negative (869) | [14,15,16,20] | 0.60 [0.47, 0.78] | 0.0001 |
| 3-year OS | Only studies with a rate > 20% of PD-L1 negative (869) | [14,15,16,20] | 0.77 [0.68, 0.88] | 0.0001 |
| 1-year PFS | Only studies with a rate > 20% of PD-L1 negative (869) | [14,15,16,20] | 0.71 [0.55, 0.91] | 0.0007 |
| 3-year PFS | Only studies with a rate > 20% of PD-L1 negative (869) | [14,15,16,20] | 0.77 [0.63, 0.95] | 0.01 |
| Exclusion of studies with < 75 % rate of adenocarcinoma | ||||
| 1-year OS | Only studies with a rate > 75% of adenocarcinoma (7731) | [16,17,18,20] | 0.60 [0.47, 0.78] | 0.0001 |
| 3-year OS | Only studies with a rate > 75% of adenocarcinoma (7731) | [16,17,18,20] | 0.88 [0.82, 0.96] | 0.002 |
| 1-year PFS | Only studies with a rate > 75% of adenocarcinoma (253) | [16,22] | 0.80 [0.68, 0.95] | 0.01 |
| 3-year PFS | Only studies with a rate > 75% of adenocarcinoma (256) | [16,22] | 0.90 [0.81, 1] | 0.05 |