Prognostic Value of Circulating Tumour DNA in Asian Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Table 2
Results of subgroup analysis.
Survival
Variables
Parameters
n
HR (95% CI)
value
Heterogeneity
Publication bias
I2 (%)
Begg’s
Egger’s
Survivorship curve OS
Overall
—
6
2.44 (1.42, 4.20)
0.001
77.6
<0.001
1.000
0.486
Method
ddPCR
2
3.70 (1.31, 10.45)
0.013
74.2
0.049
Others
4
1.97 (1.05, 3.70)
0.035
75.7
0.006
Marker
TERT
1
2.34 (1.41, 3.88)
0.001
—
—
ctDNA
4
3.46 (1.43, 8.34)
0.006
81.2
0.001
SOCS3
1
1.12 (0.71, 1.75)
0.626
—
—
Univariate OS
Overall
—
3
4.48 (1.17, 13.70)
0.003
75.1
0.018
0.602
0.532
Method
ddPCR
2
3.49 (1.21, 10.05)
0.021
75
0.045
Others
1
12.08 (3.04, 48.08)
<0.001
—
—
Marker
TERT
1
2.19 (1.34, 3.57)
0.002
—
—
ctDNA
2
7.95 (3.63, 17.40)
<0.001
0
0.471
SOCS3
0
—
—
—
—
Multivariate OS
Overall
—
3
3.74 (1.45, 9.65)
0.006
67.2
0.047
0.117
0.242
Method
ddPCR
2
2.49 (1.23, 5.06)
0.012
42.5
0.187
Others
1
10.69 (2.84, 45.81)
0.001
—
—
Marker
TERT
1
1.94 (1.17, 3.21)
0.010
—
—
ctDNA
2
5.94 (2.45, 14.37)
<0.001
10.6
0.290
SOCS3
0
—
—
—
—
Survivorship curve DFS
Overall
—
4
2.63 (1.96, 3.53)
<0.001
40.3
0.170
0.624
0.302
Method
ddPCR
1
5.46 (2.49, 12.56)
<0.001
-
-
Others
3
2.35 (1.71, 3.22)
<0.001
0
0.493
Marker
TERT
0
—
—
—
—
ctDNA
3
2.62 (1.86, 3.71)
<0.001
60.2
0.081
SOCS3
1
2.64 (1.51, 4.61)
0.001
—
—
Univariate DFS
Overall
—
1
3.28 (1.23, 11.30)
0.011
—
—
—
—
Multivariate DFS
Overall
—
1
3.01 (1.11, 10.5)
<0.001
—
—
—
—
ddPCR: droplet digital PCR; DFS: disease-free survival; OS: overall survival; value = 0.05 was considered statistically significant; CI: confidence interval; HR: hazard ratio. The bold parts indicate statistical differences.
