Connective Tissue Growth Factor in Digestive System Cancers: A Review and Meta-Analysis

Table 2

Meta-analysis results of the association of increased CTGF expression with clinical characteristics.

Clinical characteristics	Studies ()	Number of patients	OR (95% CI)	value	Heterogeneity
					(%)		Model
Age (elderly vs. nonelderly)	7	1150	1.38 (1.06, 1.79)	0.02	0%	0.99	Fixed effects
Gender (female vs. male)	9	1405	0.98 (0.76, 1.27)	0.88	32%	0.16	Fixed effects
Tumor size (large vs. small)	5	925	1.40 (1.01, 1.93)	0.04	0%	0.52	Fixed effects
Lymph node metastasis (+ vs. -)	6	675	1.29 (0.61, 2.76)	0.51	78%	0.0003	Random effects
Differentiation (poor vs. well & moderate)	9	1085	0.93 (0.51, 1.70)	0.82	69%	0.001	Random effects
TNM stage (III+IV vs. I+II)	8	1031	1.42 (0.88, 2.28)	0.15	53%	0.04	Random effects
Tumor number (multiple vs. single)	3	730	2.19 (1.23, 3.90)	0.007	0%	0.49	Fixed effects
Vascular invasion (present vs. absent)	3	730	1.46 (1.03, 2.08)	0.04	0%	0.72	Fixed effects
Capsule formation (present vs. absent)	3	730	0.74 (0.24, 2.24)	0.59	79%	0.009	Random effects