Table 3. Multivariate analysis of overall survival in patients with advanced gastric cancer after adjustment on the propensity score.
| Variate | HRa | 95% Cl | P |
| Treatment | 0.000 | ||
| Non-curative surgery+chemotherapy | 0.36 | 0.26–0.51 | |
| Chemotherapy only | 1 | reference | |
| AJCC stage | 0.040 | ||
| Stage 3 | 0.46 | 0.22–0.96 | |
| Stage 4 | 1 | reference | |
| Tumor location | 0.026 | ||
| Proximal | 1.44 | 1.05–1.98 | |
| Distal | 1 | reference | |
| Ascites | 0.023 | ||
| No | 0.50 | 0.28–0.91 | |
| Yes | 1 | reference | |
| Serum CEA | 0.044 | ||
| < the median | 0.74 | 0.56–0.99 | |
| ≥ the median | 1 | reference | |
| Propensity score | 0.87 | 0.59–1.26 | 0.453 |
Abbreviations: HRa, hazard ratio adjusted on the propensity score in 4 strata; CI, confidence interval; AJCC, American Joint Committee on Cancer; Stage 4, including metastatic and recurrent gastric cancer; CEA, baseline carcinoembryonic antigen.