Association between Tumor Vasculogenic Mimicry and the Poor Prognosis of Gastric Cancer in China: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Table 1

Characteristics of the included studies.

Study	Year	Region	Sample size ()	Number of VM-positive patients (%)	Pathological type	Clinical stage	Methods of VM identification	Preoperative treatment	Clinicopathological features	Outcome measures	Survival analysis
Chen [18]	2009	Hunan, China	87	21 (24.1)	Adenocarcinoma	I–IV	PAS^+CD34^−	No	Pathological grade; Blood metastasis; TNM clinical stage	—	—
Li et al. [19]	2009	Tianjin, China	173	40 (23.1)	Adenocarcinoma	I–IV	PAS^+CD31^−	No	Pathological grade; Lymph node metastasis; Blood metastasis; TNM clinical stage	OS	Multivariate
Liao and Gao [20]	2013	Chongqing, China	110	35 (31.8)	Adenocarcinoma	I–IV	PAS^+CD34^−	Unclear	Pathological grade; Lymph node metastasis; TNM clinical stage	OS	Univariate
Song et al. [21]	2014	Shandong, China	60	19 (31.7)	Adenocarcinoma	I–IV	PAS^+CD31^−	No	—	OS	Multivariate
Su et al. [22]	2015	Hebei, China	74	22 (29.7)	Adenocarcinoma	I–IV	PAS^+CD34^−	No	Pathological grade; Degree of invasion; Intravascular cancer embolus; Lymph node metastasis; Blood metastasis; TNM clinical stage	—	—
Wang et al. [23]	2010	Anhui, China	121	44 (36.4)	Adenocarcinoma	Unclear	PAS^+CD34^−	No	Pathological grade; Lymph node metastasis	—	—
Yang [24]	2001	Hunan, China	84	21 (25.0)	Adenocarcinoma	I–IV	PAS^+CD31^−	No	Pathological grade; Lymph node metastasis; TNM clinical stage	OS	Multivariate
Zhang and Zhao [25]	2010	Shandong, China	27	15 (55.6)	Sarcoma	I–III	PAS^+CD31^−	Unclear	—	OS	Univariate
Zhou et al. [13]	2015	Anhui, China	261	70 (26.8)	Adenocarcinoma	I–IV	PAS^+CD34^−	No	Pathological grade; Lymph node metastasis; TNM clinical stage; Degree of invasion	OS	Multivariate