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Stogiannis D, Siannis F, Androulakis E. Heterogeneity in meta-analysis: a comprehensive overview. Int J Biostat 2024; 20:169-199. [PMID: 36961993 DOI: 10.1515/ijb-2022-0070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/26/2023]
Abstract
In recent years, meta-analysis has evolved to a critically important field of Statistics, and has significant applications in Medicine and Health Sciences. In this work we briefly present existing methodologies to conduct meta-analysis along with any discussion and recent developments accompanying them. Undoubtedly, studies brought together in a systematic review will differ in one way or another. This yields a considerable amount of variability, any kind of which may be termed heterogeneity. To this end, reports of meta-analyses commonly present a statistical test of heterogeneity when attempting to establish whether the included studies are indeed similar in terms of the reported output or not. We intend to provide an overview of the topic, discuss the potential sources of heterogeneity commonly met in the literature and provide useful guidelines on how to address this issue and to detect heterogeneity. Moreover, we review the recent developments in the Bayesian approach along with the various graphical tools and statistical software that are currently available to the analyst. In addition, we discuss sensitivity analysis issues and other approaches of understanding the causes of heterogeneity. Finally, we explore heterogeneity in meta-analysis for time to event data in a nutshell, pointing out its unique characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Fotios Siannis
- Department of Mathematics, National and Kapodistrian University, Athens, Greece
| | - Emmanouil Androulakis
- Mathematical Modeling and Applications Laboratory, Section of Mathematics, Hellenic Naval Academy, Piraeus, Greece
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Hüyük M, Fiocco M, Postmus PE, Cohen D, von der Thüsen JH. Systematic review and meta-analysis of the prognostic impact of lymph node micrometastasis and isolated tumour cells in patients with stage I-IIIA non-small cell lung cancer. Histopathology 2023; 82:650-663. [PMID: 36282087 DOI: 10.1111/his.14831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2022] [Revised: 10/08/2022] [Accepted: 10/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Lymph node micrometastases could be one of the reasons for the high recurrence rate after complete surgical resection in stage I-IIIA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The standard evaluation of a single haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) slide of a paraffin-embedded section of a lymph node is insufficient for the detection of micrometastases, and there is a need for additional histopathological evaluation. The association of lymph node micrometastases with survival remains as yet unresolved. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to investigate if lymph node micrometastases and isolated tumour cells in patients with stage I-IIIA NSCLC, detected with multiple sectioning and/or immunohistochemistry (IHC) and/or reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), are associated with overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) after surgical resection. We performed a meta-analysis of time-to-event outcomes based on 15 articles using ancillary techniques to detect micrometastases. We extracted the OS and DFS every 3-6 months after surgery, for patients with and without occult lymph node micrometastasis, from the survival curves published in each article. These data were used to reconstruct OS and DFS for 'micrometastasis' and 'no micrometastasis' groups. Based on all included studies that used IHC, serial sectioning, or RT-PCR, we found a 5-year OS of 55% (micrometastasis) vs. 75% (no micrometastasis), and a 5-year DFS of 53% (micrometastasis) vs. 75% (no micrometastasis). Patients with stage I-IIIA NSCLC with lymph node micrometastases detected by ancillary histopathological and molecular techniques have a significantly poorer OS and DFS compared to patients without lymph node micrometastases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melek Hüyük
- Department of Pulmonology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Marta Fiocco
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, section Medical Statistics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Mathematical Institute, Leiden University, The Netherlands
| | - Pieter E Postmus
- Department of Pulmonology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Danielle Cohen
- Department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Jan H von der Thüsen
- Department of Pathology and Clinical Bioinformatics, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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Brigitha LJ, Fiocco M, Pieters R, Albertsen BK, Escherich G, Lopez-Lopez E, Mondelaers V, Vora A, Vrooman L, Schmiegelow K, van der Sluis IM. Hypersensitivity to Pegylated E.colia sparaginase as first-line treatment in contemporary paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia protocols: a meta-analysis of the Ponte di Legno Toxicity working group. Eur J Cancer 2021; 162:65-75. [PMID: 34954438 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejca.2021.11.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2021] [Revised: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hypersensitivity reactions to asparaginase challenge its use and occur frequently (30-75%) after native Escherichia Coli (E.coli) asparaginase. Comparison of incidence of allergic reactions to pegylated E.coli asparaginase (PEGasparaginase) across contemporary paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) protocols is lacking. METHOD AND PATIENTS Questionnaires were sent to all members of the international ALL Ponte di Legno Toxicity Working Group. Meta-analyses were conducted to estimate the incidence of three types of hypersensitivity (allergy, allergic-like reaction and silent inactivation). Information on protocol level regarding PEGasparaginase dosing regimen, administration route and use of therapeutic drug monitoring was collected for risk analysis. RESULTS Newly diagnosed patients with ALL (n = 5880), aged 1-24 years old, were enrolled in seven different upfront ALL protocols using PEGasparaginase as first-line treatment. The incidence of allergic reactions (sum of allergies and allergic-like reactions) [95% confidence interval] was 2% [1%; 3%] during induction and 8% [5%; 11%] during postinduction. Route of administration, number of doses, dosage and number of PEGasparaginase-free weeks did not significantly influence risk of hypersensitivity. Multivariate meta-regression analysis suggests that initiation of PEGasparaginase in postinduction and higher number of PEGasparaginase-free intervals increased the risk for allergic reactions. 9-16% and 23-29% of all hypersensitivities were allergic-like reactions and silent inactivation, respectively. CONCLUSION The incidence of allergic reactions is lower in protocols using PEGasparaginase as first-line treatment compared with that reported for E.coli asparaginase or PEGasparaginase after E.coli asparaginase. Postinduction phase, a higher number of PEGasparaginase-free intervals, and initiation of PEGasparaginase in postinduction phase are risk factors for allergic reactions. These results are important for planning of PEGasparaginase administrations in future frontline therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leiah J Brigitha
- Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Marta Fiocco
- Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Medical Statistics, Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands; Mathematical Institute, Leiden University, the Netherlands
| | - Rob Pieters
- Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Dutch Childhood Oncology Group, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Birgitte K Albertsen
- Children and Adolescent Health, Aarhus University Hospital, and Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Gabriele Escherich
- University Medical Center Eppendorf, Clinic of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Elixabet Lopez-Lopez
- Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology & Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science & Technology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Barrio Sarriena S/n, 48940, Leioa, Spain
| | - Veerle Mondelaers
- Department of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Ajay Vora
- Departments of Bone Marrow Transplant and Haematology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK
| | - Lynda Vrooman
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kjeld Schmiegelow
- Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark; Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Inge M van der Sluis
- Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Dutch Childhood Oncology Group, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
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Yu D, Ding C, He N, Wang R, Zhou X, Shi L. Robust estimation and confidence interval in meta-regression models. Comput Stat Data Anal 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.csda.2018.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Liu X, Fiocco M, Swen JJ, Guchelaar HJ. Assessment of ethnic differences in sunitinib outcome between Caucasian and Asian patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma: a meta-analysis. Acta Oncol 2017; 56:582-589. [PMID: 27924664 DOI: 10.1080/0284186x.2016.1265666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND An increasing number of studies have reported ethnic differences in sunitinib outcome in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients. However, a comprehensive analysis is still lacking. Therefore, we systematically collected available published data and performed a meta-analysis to compare sunitinib efficacy and toxicity in Asian and Caucasian mRCC patients. METHODS Data were extracted from published results from clinical trials, expanded access program and real-world clinical practice. Progression-free survival (or time to tumor progression), overall survival, objective response rate and adverse events were used as endpoints to evaluate the differences of sunitinib outcome between the two ethnicities. For adverse events, we focused the following clinically relevant side effects: diarrhea, fatigue, mucositis/stomatitis, hand-foot syndrome, hypertension, leukopenia, neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. RESULTS A total of 33 publications including 9977 patients were available for meta-analysis. The efficacy of sunitinib in Asian patients was similar to that in Caucasian patients. However, Asian patients showed a higher incidence of all grades toxicity of hand-foot syndrome, > grade 2 fatigue, > grade 2 hand-foot syndrome and > grade 2 thrombocytopenia. CONCLUSION Ethnic differences in adverse events of sunitinib in mRCC patients existed and dose adjustment in Asian patients may be considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyan Liu
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Toxicology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Marta Fiocco
- Department of Medical Statistics and Bioinformatics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Jesse J. Swen
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Toxicology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Henk-Jan Guchelaar
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Toxicology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
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van der Voort P, Pijls BG, Nieuwenhuijse MJ, Jasper J, Fiocco M, Plevier JWM, Middeldorp S, Valstar ER, Nelissen RGHH. Early subsidence of shape-closed hip arthroplasty stems is associated with late revision. A systematic review and meta-analysis of 24 RSA studies and 56 survival studies. Acta Orthop 2015; 86:575-85. [PMID: 25909455 PMCID: PMC4564780 DOI: 10.3109/17453674.2015.1043832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Few studies have addressed the association between early migration of femoral stems and late aseptic revision in total hip arthroplasty. We performed a meta-regression analysis on 2 parallel systematic reviews and meta-analyses to determine the association between early migration and late aseptic revision of femoral stems. PATIENTS AND METHODS Of the 2 reviews, one covered early migration data obtained from radiostereometric analysis (RSA) studies and the other covered long-term aseptic revision rates obtained from survival studies with endpoint revision for aseptic loosening. Stems were stratified according to the design concept: cemented shape-closed, cemented force-closed, and uncemented. A weighted regression model was used to assess the association between early migration and late aseptic revision, and to correct for confounders. Thresholds for acceptable and unacceptable migration were determined in accordance with the national joint registries (≤ 5% revision at 10 years) and the NICE criteria (≤ 10% revision at 10 years). RESULTS 24 studies (731 stems) were included in the RSA review and 56 studies (20,599 stems) were included in the survival analysis review. Combining both reviews for the 3 design concepts showed that for every 0.1-mm increase in 2-year subsidence, as measured with RSA, there was a 4% increase in revision rate for the shape-closed stem designs. This association remained after correction for age, sex, diagnosis, hospital type, continent, and study quality. The threshold for acceptable migration of shape-closed designs was defined at 0.15 mm; stems subsiding less than 0.15 mm in 2 years had revision rates of less than 5% at 10 years, while stems exceeding 0.15 mm subsidence had revision rates of more than 5%. INTERPRETATION There was a clinically relevant association between early subsidence of shape-closed femoral stems and late revision for aseptic loosening. This association can be used to assess the safety of shape-closed stem designs. The published research is not sufficient to allow us to make any conclusions regarding such an association for the force-closed and uncemented stems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul van der Voort
- Department of Orthopaedics, Biomechanics and Imaging Group, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden
| | - Bart G Pijls
- Department of Orthopaedics, Biomechanics and Imaging Group, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden
| | - Marc J Nieuwenhuijse
- Department of Orthopaedics, Biomechanics and Imaging Group, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden
| | - Jorrit Jasper
- Department of Orthopaedics, Biomechanics and Imaging Group, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden
| | - Marta Fiocco
- Department of Medical Statistics and Bioinformatics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden
| | | | - Saskia Middeldorp
- Academic Medical Center, Department of Vascular Medicine, Amsterdam,Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Edward R Valstar
- Department of Orthopaedics, Biomechanics and Imaging Group, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden,Department of Biomechanical Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, University of Technology, Delft
| | - Rob G H H Nelissen
- Department of Orthopaedics, Biomechanics and Imaging Group, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden
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Barrett JK, Farewell VT, Siannis F, Tierney J, Higgins JPT. Two-stage meta-analysis of survival data from individual participants using percentile ratios. Stat Med 2012; 31:4296-308. [PMID: 22825835 PMCID: PMC3562482 DOI: 10.1002/sim.5516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2011] [Revised: 04/18/2012] [Accepted: 06/12/2012] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Methods for individual participant data meta-analysis of survival outcomes commonly focus on the hazard ratio as a measure of treatment effect. Recently, Siannis et al. (2010, Statistics in Medicine 29:3030-3045) proposed the use of percentile ratios as an alternative to hazard ratios. We describe a novel two-stage method for the meta-analysis of percentile ratios that avoids distributional assumptions at the study level.
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Mittlböck M, Edler L, LeBlanc M, Niland J, Zwinderman K. Second Issue for Computational Statistics for Clinical Research. Comput Stat Data Anal 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.csda.2012.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
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