Table 1. Main clinical and pathological characteristics of the 506 patients of the study (values between parentheses, ranges between brackets).
| Sex (male: 292; female: 214) | Age (mean=64.3 years [29–83]) |
| Days from surgery to chemotherapy:a 42±14 | Tumour site (colon: 324; rectum: 182) |
| Tumour shape (ulcerated: 265; nonulcerated: 241) | Tumour size (largest ∅: 4.8±2.4 cm [0.5–18] |
| Depth of involvement (T1: 11; T2: 31; T3: 400; T4: 64) | Histological grading (G1: 5; G2: 421; G3: 69; G4: 11) |
| Angioinvasion (yes: 47; no: 459) | Lymphoinvasion (yes: 151; no: 355) |
| Neuroinvasion (yes: 18; no: 488) | Lymphocyte infiltration (yes: 358; no: 148) |
| Regional node involvement (yes: 263; no: 243) | Distant node involvement (yes: 22; not: 484) |
| Presence of liver metastases (yes: 74; no: 432) | Number of liver metastases (median=1 [1–14] |
| Extrahepatic metastases (yes: 43; no: 463) | Haemoglobin (g per 100 ml: 12.1±1.7 [7.6–16.0]) |
| Serum albumin (g per 100 ml: 4.02±0.52 [2.60–5.63]) | Serum CEA (ng ml−1: mean=4.3 [0.1–6.000]) |
| Serum CA19-9 (U ml−1: mean=9.1 [0.1–11.000]) | Dukes' stages (A: 22; B: 183; C: 176; D: 125) |
| MAC stages (A: 16; B: 189; C: 176; D: 125) | TNM stages (TI: 16; TII: 189; TIII: 176; TIV: 125) |
a
In patients who did not undergo chemotherapy, the interval was calculated from surgery to the first clinical follow-up evaluation.