. 2024 Dec 28;14:30811. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-81237-w

Table 2.

Clinical characteristics grouped by IBI in the primary and validation cohorts.

	Primary Cohort (n = 286) Low-IBI (n = 146) High-IBI (n = 140) P-value	Validation Cohort (n = 122) Low-IBI (n = 62) High-IBI (n = 60) P-value
Age (≤ 60/>60, years, n) Sex (female/male, n) Tumor location (U/M/L, n) Differentiation (W/M/P, n) Vessel invasion (yes/no, n) Perineural invasion (yes/no, n) Tumor length (≤ 3.0/>3.0, n) pTNM stage (I/II/III, n)	77(52.7)/69(47.3) 92(65.7)/48(34.3) 0.026 46(31.5)/100(68.5) 47(33.6)/93(66.4) 0.709 10(6.8)/60(41.1)/76(52.1) 8(5.7)/69(49.3)/63(45.0) 0.379 24(16.4)/94(64.4)/28(19.2) 16(11.4)/95(67.9)/29(20.7) 0.473 16(11.0)/130(89.0) 31(22.1)/109(77.9) 0.011 20(13.7)/126(86.3) 38(27.1)/102(72.9) 0.005 65(44.5)/81(55.5) 35(25.0)/105(75.0) 0.001 57(39.0)/52(35.6)/37(25.3) 38(27.1)/38(27.1)/64(45.8) 0.001	34(54.8)/28(45.2) 32(53.3)/28(46.7) 0.868 22(35.5)/40(64.5) 17(28.3)/43(71.3) 0.397 4(6.5)/25(40.3)/33(53.2) 4(6.7)/37(61.7)/19(31.6) 0.048 12(19.4)/36(58.1)/14(22.5) 11(18.3)/39(65.0)/10(16.7) 0.671 5(8.1)/57(91.9) 15(25.0)/45(75.0) 0.012 6(9.7)/56(90.3) 14(23.3)/46(76.7) 0.042 26(41.9)/36(58.1) 15(25.0)/45(75.0) 0.048 28(45.2)/18(29.0)/16(25.8) 14(23.4)/23(38.3)/23(38.3) 0.039
Adjuvant therapy (yes/no, n)	40(27.4)/106(72.6) 44(31.4)/96(68.6) 0.454	42(67.7)/20(32.3) 45(75.0)/15(25.0) 0.376

Primary Cohort (n = 286)
Low-IBI (n = 146) High-IBI (n = 140) P-value

Validation Cohort (n = 122)
Low-IBI (n = 62) High-IBI (n = 60) P-value

Age (≤ 60/>60, years, n)

Sex (female/male, n)

Tumor location (U/M/L, n)

Differentiation (W/M/P, n)

Vessel invasion (yes/no, n)

Perineural invasion (yes/no, n)

Tumor length (≤ 3.0/>3.0, n)

pTNM stage (I/II/III, n)

77(52.7)/69(47.3) 92(65.7)/48(34.3) 0.026

46(31.5)/100(68.5) 47(33.6)/93(66.4) 0.709

10(6.8)/60(41.1)/76(52.1) 8(5.7)/69(49.3)/63(45.0) 0.379

24(16.4)/94(64.4)/28(19.2) 16(11.4)/95(67.9)/29(20.7) 0.473

16(11.0)/130(89.0) 31(22.1)/109(77.9) 0.011

20(13.7)/126(86.3) 38(27.1)/102(72.9) 0.005

65(44.5)/81(55.5) 35(25.0)/105(75.0) 0.001

57(39.0)/52(35.6)/37(25.3) 38(27.1)/38(27.1)/64(45.8) 0.001

34(54.8)/28(45.2) 32(53.3)/28(46.7) 0.868

22(35.5)/40(64.5) 17(28.3)/43(71.3) 0.397

4(6.5)/25(40.3)/33(53.2) 4(6.7)/37(61.7)/19(31.6) 0.048

12(19.4)/36(58.1)/14(22.5) 11(18.3)/39(65.0)/10(16.7) 0.671

5(8.1)/57(91.9) 15(25.0)/45(75.0) 0.012

6(9.7)/56(90.3) 14(23.3)/46(76.7) 0.042

26(41.9)/36(58.1) 15(25.0)/45(75.0) 0.048

28(45.2)/18(29.0)/16(25.8) 14(23.4)/23(38.3)/23(38.3) 0.039

Adjuvant therapy (yes/no, n)

40(27.4)/106(72.6) 44(31.4)/96(68.6) 0.454

42(67.7)/20(32.3) 45(75.0)/15(25.0) 0.376

Abbreviation: ESCC: esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; IBI: inflammatory burden index; U/M/L: upper/middle/lower; W/M/P; well/moderate/poor; pTNM: pathological tumor node metastasis.