Table 1.
Characteristics of studies included in the meta-analysis.
| Author | Country | Sample size | Markers | Cut-off value | Tissue distribution | Analysis | Follow-up | Outcome assessment | Selection | Comparability | Outcome | NOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leek et al., 1996 (23) | England | 91 | CD68+ | Median 12 | Tumor nest | Unavailable | 60 months | OS, DFS | ★★★ | ★★ | ★ | 6 |
| Tsutsui et al., 2005 (24) | Japan | 249 | CD68+ | 55th percentile | Tumor nest | Unavailable | Unavailable | DFS | ★★★★ | ★★ | ★ | 7 |
| Murri et al., 2008 (25) | UK | 168 | CD68+ | Tertiles | Tumor nest | Blind | Median 72 months | OS, BCSS | ★★★★ | ★ | ★★ | 7 |
| Campbell et al., 2010 (26) | American | 216 | CD68+/ PCNA+ |
5 | Tumor nest | Blind | 108 months | OS, DFS | ★★★ | ★★ | ★★★ | 8 |
| Mukhtar et al., 2011 (27) | American | 70 | CD68+/ PCNA+ |
Median 5 |
Tumor nest | Blind | Median 10.34 years | OS, DFS | ★★★ | ★★ | ★★★ | 8 |
| Mohammed et al., 2012 (28) | UK | 468 | CD68+ | Tertiles | Tumor nest | Blind | 10 years | OS, BCSS | ★★★★ | ★ | ★★★ | 8 |
| Medrek et al. 2012 (29) | Sweden | 144 | CD68+ CD163+ |
Median 50% | Tumor nest and stroma |
Unavailable | Median 6.55 years (0.33-7.55) |
OS, BCSS, DFS | ★★★★ | ★ | ★★★ | 8 |
| Mahmoud et al. 2012 (30) | UK | 1902 | CD68+ | TN, 6 TS,17 |
Tumor nest and stroma |
Blind | Unavailable | OS, BCSS, DFS | ★★★ | ★ | ★★ | 6 |
| Carrio et al., 2012 (31) | American | 29 | CD68+ | Positive | Tumor nest | Unavailable | Unavailable | OS | ★★★ | ★ | ★★★ | 7 |
| Zhang et al., 2013 (32) | China | 172 | CD68+ | Median 26 | Tumor nest | Blind | Unavailable | OS, DFS | ★★★ | ★★ | ★★ | 7 |
| Campbell et al., 2013 (33) | American | 102 | CD68+/PCNA+ | Mean 24 | Tumor nest | Unavailable | Unavailable | OS, DFS | ★★★ | ★★ | ★★ | 7 |
| Yuan et al., 2014 (34) | China | 287 | CD68+ | 16 | Tumor stroma | Unavailable | Median 89 months (4-181) |
OS, DFS | ★★★ | ★ | ★★★ | 7 |
| Gujam et al., 2014 (35) | UK | 361 | CD68+ | Tertiles | Tumor stroma | Blind | Median 168 months | OS, BCSS | ★★★★ | ★ | ★★★ | 8 |
| Yang et al., 2015 (36) | China | 100 | CD68+ | Median 61.14 | Tumor nest | Unavailable | Mean 56.68 months | OS | ★★★ | ★ | ★★ | 6 |
| Sousa et al., 2015 (37) | Finland | 562 | CD68+ CD163+ |
Median CD68: 369 CD163: 167.5 |
Tumor nest | Double- blinded | Unavailable | DFS | ★★★★ | ★ | ★★★ | 8 |
| Gwak et al., 2015 (38) | Korea | 276 | CD68+ | Median 24.2 | Tumor nest | Unavailable | Median 7.7 years (0.1-10.6) | DFS | ★★★ | ★★ | ★★ | 7 |
| Tiainen et al. 2015 (17) | Finland | 270 | CD68+ CD163+ |
Median CD68: 34 CD163: 26 |
Tumor stroma | Blind | Median 6.3 years (0.4-11.1) | OS | ★★★ | ★★ | ★★★ | 8 |
| Ward et al., 2015 (39) | UK | 129 | CD68+ | Mean value | Tumor nest | Unavailable | Median 78 months | DFS | ★★★ | ★ | ★★ | 6 |
| Koru-Sengul et al., 2016 (40) | American | 150 | CD163+ | 150 | Tumor stroma | Blind | Unavailable | OS, DFS | ★★★★ | ★ | ★★★ | 8 |
| Tian et al., 2016 (41) | China | 278 | CD163+ | Median 50% | Tumor stroma | Unavailable | Median 76 months (4-116) | OS | ★★★ | ★ | ★★ | 6 |
| Shiota et al., 2016 (42) | Japan | 167 | CD68+ | Median 50% | Tumor nest | Blind | Median 86 months (1-159) | OS, BCSS, DFS |
★★★★ | ★ | ★★★ | 8 |
| Xu et al., 2017 (43) | China | 102 | CD68+ | Mean number | Tumor stroma | Blind | Unavailable | OS, DFS | ★★★★ | ★ | ★★★ | 8 |
| Miyasato et al., 2017 (44) | Japan | 149 | CD68+ CD163+ |
190 | Tumor nest | Blind | Unavailable | OS, BCSS, DFS |
★★★★ | ★ | ★★★ | 8 |
| Liu et al. 2017 (45) | China | 203 | CD163+ | 10% | Tumor stroma | Unavailable | Median 51 months (13-88) | OS, DFS | ★★★ | ★★ | ★★ | 7 |
| Yang et al. 2018 (46) | China | 200 | CD68+ CD163+ |
TN: 11; TS: 36 |
Tumor nest and stroma |
Blind | Median 66 months (12-86) | OS, DFS | ★★★ | ★★ | ★★★ | 8 |
| Zhang et al., 2018 (47) | China | 278 | CD163+ | Mean | Tumor nest | Blind | Median 87 months (8-130) | DFS | ★★★ | ★★ | ★★ | 7 |
| Yuan et al., 2019 (48) | China | 217 | CD68+ | Immunoreactivity scoring > 6 | Tumor nest | Blind | 5 years | DFS | ★★★ | ★ | ★★★ | 7 |
| Jeong et al., 2019 (49) | Korea | 367 | CD68+ CD163+ |
CD68+ TN:33 TS:17.8 CD163+ TN: 1.67 TS: 21 |
Tumor nest and stroma |
Blind | Unavailable | OS, DFS | ★★★ | ★ | ★★★ | 7 |
| Jamiyan et al. 2020 (50) | Japan | 107 | CD68+ CD163+ |
Median value CD68+ TS: 26.2 TN: 11.2 CD163+ TS: 26.6 TN: 8.6 |
Tumor nest and stroma |
Unavailable | Unavailable | OS, DFS | ★★★ | ★ | ★★ | 6 |
| Chen et al., 2020 (51) | Singapore | 198 | CD68+ CD163+ |
≥ 10% | Tumor stroma | Unavailable | Median 7.2 years (0-20.4) | DFS | ★★★ | ★ | ★★★ | 7 |
| Gunnarsdottir et al., 2020 (52) | Sweden | 286 | CD68+ | 10% | Tumor nest | Blind | Unavailable | OS | ★★★ | ★★ | ★★ | 7 |
| Lin et al., 2021 (53) | Germany | 298 | CD68+ | ≤ 4.5 | Tumor stroma | Unavailable | 12 years | OS, DFS | ★★★ | ★★ | ★ | 6 |
TN, tumor nest; TS, tumor stroma; OS, overall survival; DFS, disease-free survival; BCSS, breast cancer specific survival; NOS: Newcastle-Ottawa Scale checklist
★: A star means that the study obtain one score in NOS.