Table 6 Cross-assessment of the same outcomes with their corresponding risk factors and predictors
Overlapping outcomes | Risk factor | Risk factor prevalence | Effect size (95% CI)a | Credibility assessment | Risk predictor | Effect size (95% CI)b | Model performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CRC metastasis | |||||||
 Lymph node metastasis in pT1 CRC | Vascular invasion | 330/1731 = 19% | 2.73 (1.98–3.78) | Convincing | Vascular invasion | 8.45 (4.56–15.66) | AUC 0.812 (0.770–0.855); Hosmer–Lemeshow test: p = 0.737 (55) |
Submucosal invasion ≥ 1 mm | 2389/2922 = 82% | 2.95 (1.39–6.27) | Weak | Submucosal invasion ≥ 1 mm | 2.14 (1.19–3.86) | ||
Tumor budding | 2401/10,128 = 24% | 6.39 (5.23–7.80) | Highly suggestive | Tumor budding | 1.70 (1.03–2.80) | ||
|  |  |  |  | Histologic grade | 7.89 (2.89–21.52) | ||
Tumor differentiation | 94/2722 = 4% | 5.61 (2.90–10.83) | Suggestive | Tumor differentiation | 11.77 (0.77–179.83) | AUC 0.90 (0.81–0.99) (49) | |
Lymphatic invasion | 906/3347 = 27% | 6.78 (5.29–8.69) | Highly suggestive | Infiltrative growth pattern | 31.91 (2.37–428.36) | ||
Lymphovascular invasion | 340/1695 = 20% | 4.81 (3.14–7.36) | Suggestive | Lymphoid infiltrate | 28.75 (2.13–388.37) | ||
Gender | 465/1329 = 35% | 2.23 (0.78–6.42) | No association | Sessile morphology | 4.88 (0.81–29.3) | ||
 Lymph node metastasis in CRC | Tumor budding | 1955/6739 = 29% | 4.96 (3.97–6.19) | Highly suggestive | CT-reported lymph node status | 1.69 (1.05–2.75) | C statistic 0.736 (0.759–0.766); Hosmer–Lemeshow test: p = 0.916 (52) |
Downregulated E-cadherin expression | 829/1573 = 53% | 0.49 (0.34–0.72) | Highly suggestive | Radiomics signature | 5.48 (3.03–9.91) | ||
Low MUC2 expression level | 613/1335 = 46% | 1.42 (1.19–1.69) | Suggestive | CEA | 1.71 (1.04–2.83) | ||
Circulating tumor cells | 797/1802 = 44% | 1.62 (1.17–2.23) | Weak |  |  |  | |
p16 protein expression | 482/800 = 60% | 0.50 (0.30–0.84) | Weak |  |  |  | |
CD147 expression | 603/815 = 74% | 1.41 (0.39–5.01) | No association |  |  |  | |
CD133 expression | 550/1629 = 34% | 1.15 (0.82–1.62) | No association |  |  |  | |
HER-2 immunohistochemical expression | 440/1289 = 34% | 1.90 (0.90–4.02) | No association |  |  |  | |
BRAF mutation | 736/1142 = 64% | 0.75 (0.49–1.14) | No association |  |  |  | |
RASSF1A promoter methylation | 100/184 = 54% | 1.61 (0.16–16.16) | No association |  |  |  | |
 Hepatic metastasis in CRC | Circulating tumor cells | 103/310 = 33% | 6.38 (2.67–15.26) | Suggestive | Duke B/C | NA | Sensitivity 0.74, specificity 0.62 (50) |
ALP | NA | ||||||
Sex/gender | NA | ||||||
 Distant metastasis in CRC | Downregulated E-cadherin expression | 509/1027 = 50% | 0.45 (0.23–0.91) | Weak | AJCC stage | 1.27 (0.25–6.38) | AUC 0.80 (0.67–0.93); calibration plot (56) |
Cyclin D1 overexpression | 952/1515 = 63% | 0.60 (0.36–0.99) | Weak | MiR25/MiR339 | 2.92 (0.98–8.64) | ||
β-catenin overexpression in the nucleus | 283/531 = 53% | 0.48 (0.29–0.79) | Weak | Age at surgery | 1.10 (0.20–6.03) | ||
CD147 expression | 405/538 = 75% | 2.32 (1.34E−06 to 4.03E+06) | No association | Sex/gender | 1.40 (0.46–4.28) | ||
CD133 expression | 300/1064 = 28% | 1.54 (0.39–6.09) | No association |  |  |  | |
RASSF1A promoter methylation | 153/417 = 37% | 2.57 (0.64–10.24) | No association |  |  |  | |
CRC recurrence | |||||||
 Overall recurrence in CRC | Tumor budding | 802/2773 = 29% | 5.50 (3.65–8.29) | Highly suggestive | AJCC stage | NA | AUC 0.921 (0.869–0.972); calibration plot (65) |
Extranodal extension (ENE) | 376/877 = 43% | 2.07 (1.65–2.61) | Highly suggestive | Tumor differentiation | NA | ||
PTGS2 (COX-2) | 787/1516 = 52% | 2.78 (1.76–4.40) | Suggestive | Gene signature | NA | ||
Absence of peritoneal free tumor cells in pre-resection | 524/593 = 88% | 0.38 (0.16–0.91) | Weak |  |  |  | |
Absence of peritoneal free tumor cells in post-resection | 214/252 = 85% | 0.07 (0.02–0.21) | Weak |  |  |  | |
Underweight | 2752/17,636 = 16% | 1.13 (1.05–1.21) | Weak |  |  |  | |
Obese | 6362/21,246 = 30% | 1.07 (1.02–1.13) | Weak |  |  |  | |
Overweight | 13,225/28,109 = 47% | 1.00 (0.96–1.05) | No association |  |  |  | |
Diabetes | 429/4979 = 9% | 1.26 (0.70–2.30) | No association |  |  |  | |