In order to further explore the association between abnormal expression levels of MLKL with OS in cancer patients, subgroup analysis was performed based on the following factors: type of cancer (non-digestive system or digestive system malignancies), sample size (fewer than 100 or more than 100), follow-up time (fewer than 100 or more than 100 months), paper quality (NOS scores < 7 or ≥ 7). This evidence concerns the gene MLKL and cancer.