Table 5.
Evidence grading of appraised meta-analyses.
| Author/year | Endpoints | Number of cases >1,000 | p-Value of overall effect¥ | Heterogeneity (I2) < 50% | 95% prediction interval excluding the null | No small-study effects‡ | Design of included studies | Evidence grading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio | ||||||||
| Cai et al., 2020 (19) | OS | Yes | p < 0.001 | No | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | III |
| PFS | Yes | p < 0.001 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | III | |
| Gong et al., 2019 (8) | OS | Yes | p < 0.001 | No | Yes | Data not available | Retrospective | III |
| PFS | Yes | p < 0.001 | Yes | Yes | Data not available | Retrospective | III | |
| Gao et al., 2019 (21) | OS | Yes | p < 0.001 | No | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | III |
| PFS | Yes | p < 0.001 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | III | |
| Lu et al., 2019 (11) | OS | Yes | p < 0.01 | No | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | IV |
| PFS | Yes | p < 0.01 | Yes | Yes | Conditions not met | Retrospective | IV | |
| Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio | ||||||||
| Yin et al., 2019 (20) | OS | Yes | p < 0.001 | No | Yes | Data not available | Retrospective | III |
| PFS | Yes | p < 0.001 | Yes | Yes | Data not available | Retrospective | III | |
| Zhao et al., 2018 (24) | OS | Yes | Data not available | No | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | NR |
| PFS | Yes | Data not available | Yes | Yes | No | Retrospective | NR | |
| Zhu et al., 2018 (14) | OS | Yes | Data not available | No | Yes | Data not available | Retrospective | NR |
| PFS | Yes | Data not available | No | Yes | Data not available | Retrospective | NR | |
| Chen et al., 2018 (25) | OS | Yes | p = 0.005 | No | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | IV |
| PFS | Yes | p = 0.001 | No | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | IV | |
| Chen et al., 2017 (26) | OS | Yes | p = 0.04 | No | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | IV |
| PFS | Yes | p = 0.004 | No | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | IV | |
| Huang et al., 2017 (28) | OS | Yes | Data not available | No | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | NR |
| PFS | Yes | Data not available | No | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | NR | |
| Yang et al., 2017 (29) | OS | Yes | Data not available | No | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | NR |
| PFS | Yes | Data not available | No | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | NR | |
| Ethier et al., 2017 (10) | OS | Yes | p < 0.001 | No | Yes | Data not available | Retrospective | III |
| PFS | Yes | p < 0.001 | No | Yes | Data not available | Retrospective | III | |
| Zhou et al., 2017 (30) | OS | Yes | p < 0.001 | No | Yes | No | Retrospective | III |
| PFS | Yes | p < 0.001 | No | Yes | No | Retrospective | III | |
| Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio | ||||||||
| Jiang et al., 2019 (22) | OS | Yes | p = 0.000 | No | Yes | Data not available | Retrospective | III |
| PFS | Yes | p = 0.000 | Yes | Yes | Data not available | Retrospective | III | |
| Tian et al., 2018 (13) | OS | Yes | p < 0.001 | No | Yes | Data not available | Retrospective | III |
| PFS | Yes | p < 0.001 | No | Yes | Data not available | Retrospective | III | |
| Xu et al., 2018 (23) | OS | Yes | p = 0.000 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | III |
| PFS | Yes | p < 0.001 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | III | |
| Zhao et al., 2018 (24) | OS | Yes | Data not available | Yes | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | NR |
| PFS | Yes | Data not available | Yes | Yes | Yes | Retrospective | NR | |
| Zhu et al., 2018 (14) | OS | Yes | Data not available | No | Yes | Data not available | Retrospective | NR |
| PFS | Yes | Data not available | No | Yes | Data not available | Retrospective | NR | |
| Ma et al., 2017 (27) | OS | Yes | p < 0.01 | No | Yes | Data not available | Retrospective | IV |
| PFS | Yes | p < 0.01 | No | Yes | Data not available | Retrospective | IV | |
NR, not rated; OS, overall survival; PFS, progression-free survival.
¥Copied as shown by the full-text articles.
‡Based on Egger’s test.