Prognostic Value of Pretreatment Albumin-to-Alkaline Phosphatase Ratio in Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

Table 2

Stratification analysis for the meta-analysis with overall survival (OS) in patients with cancer.

Subgroup	No. of cohorts	No. of patients	Pooled HR (95% CI)		Heterogeneity
					(%)
Altogether	20	5716	2.12 (1.80-2.94)	<0.001	48.1	0.009
Publishing time
<2019	6	1794	1.86 (1.55-2.23)	<0.001	11.9	0.339
≥2019	14	3922	2.30 (1.80-2.94)	<0.001	57.3	0.004
Country
China	19	5616	2.14 (1.80-2.54)	<0.001	50.8	0.006
Korea	1	100	1.77 (0.74-4.24)	NA	NA	NA
Sample capacity
<230	10	1541	2.52 (1.80-3.53)	<0.001	62.2	0.005
≥230	11	4175	1.81 (1.58-2.07)	<0.001	5.7	0.388
Cutoff value
<0.5	14	3040	2.22 (1.76-2.81)	<0.001	60.2	0.002
≥0.5	6	2676	1.97 (1.63-2.38)	<0.001	0	0.575
Cancer system
Digestive cancer	8	1594	2.13 (1.57-2.87)	<0.001	52.2	0.041
Respiratory cancer	7	1831	1.86 (1.51-2.28)	<0.001	25.6	0.234
Urinary cancer	3	1315	2.98 (1.41-6.32)	0.004	81	0.005
Breast cancer	1	746	2.24 (1.03-4.88)	NA	NA	NA
Gynecological cancers	1	230	3.02 (1.23-7.40)	NA	NA	NA
Primary therapy
With chemotherapy	5	1155	1.88 (1.44-2.45)	<0.001	42.6	0.137
With radiotherapy	1	122	1.70 (1.03-2.80)	NA	NA	NA
With surgery	11	3878	2.64 (1.97-3.54)	<0.001	57.3	0.009
Mixed	2	324	1.67 (1.16-2.40)	0.006	0	0.889
Without treatment	1	237	1.69 (1.16-2.47)	NA	NA	NA
Analytic method
Univariate	3	387	2.88 (1.28-6.48)	0.011	77.2	0.013
Multivariate	17	5329	1.99 (1.70-2.32)	<0.001	35.4	0.074