Table 2.
Subgroup meta-analysis of the prognostic role of NK cells in HCC.
| Factor | No. of study | No. of patients | HR (95%CI) | P-value | Heterogeneity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I2(%) | P-value | |||||
| OS | ||||||
| Total | 12 | 1611 | 0.70 (0.57-0.86) | 0.001 | 16.0 | 0.287 |
| Marker | ||||||
| CD56 | 6 | 673 | 0.69 (0.38-1.25) | 0.224 | 45.6 | 0.102 |
| CD57 | 4 | 807 | 0.70 (0.55-0.89) | 0.004 | 12.8 | 0.328 |
| NK cells | 2 | 131 | 0.67 (0.41-1.08) | 0.103 | 0.0 | 0.532 |
| Source | ||||||
| Peripheral blood | 5 | 378 | 0.66 (0.41-1.06) | 0.088 | 12.0 | 0.337 |
| Intratumor | 7 | 1233 | 0.71 (0.55-0.90) | 0.005 | 29.0 | 0.207 |
| DFS/RFS/TTR/PFS | ||||||
| Total | 9 | 1313 | 0.87 (0.72-1.06) | 0.164 | 13.4 | 0.323 |
| Marker | ||||||
| CD56 | 4 | 538 | 1.09 (0.79-1.50) | 0.602 | 0.0 | 0.689 |
| CD57 | 3 | 644 | 0.76 (0.57-1.01) | 0.059 | 32.3 | 0.228 |
| NK cells | 2 | 131 | 0.84 (0.41-1.73) | 0.641 | 43.8 | 0.182 |
| Source | ||||||
| Peripheral blood | 3 | 179 | 0.93 (0.59-1.46) | 0.746 | 0.0 | 0.406 |
| Intratumor | 6 | 1134 | 0.86 (0.68-1.09) | 0.213 | 32.1 | 0.195 |
| Outcome | ||||||
| DFS | 2 | 388 | 0.61 (0.40-0.93) | 0.022 | 0.0 | 0.784 |
| RFS | 3 | 354 | 0.77 (0.55-1.08) | 0.134 | 0.0 | 0.568 |
| TTR | 3 | 510 | 1.08 (0.85-1.36) | 0.543 | 0.0 | 0.737 |
| PFS | 1 | 61 | 0.50 (0.18-1.39) | 0.185 | / | / |
HCC, Hepatocellular carcinoma; NK, Natural killer; CI, Confidence interval; HR, Hazard ratio; OS, Overall survival; DFS, Disease-free survival; TTR, Time-to recurrence; RFS, Recurrence-free survival; PFS, Progression-free survival.