Table 4. Multivariate analysis of overall survival in patients with stage 4 gastric cancer after adjustment on the propensity score.

Variate	HRa	95% Cl	P
Treatment			0.000
Non-curative surgery+chemotherapy	0.36	0.25–0.51
Chemotherapy only	1	reference
Ascites			0.022
No	0.57	0.35–0.92
Yes	1	reference
Serum CEA			0.033
< the median	0.68	0.48–0.97
≥ the median	1	reference
Serum CA19-9			0.032
< the median	0.68	0.48–0.97
≥ the median	1	reference
Second-line chemotherapy
No	1.46	1.02–2.10	0.037
Yes	1	reference
Propensity score	1.21	0.81–1.80	0.349

Abbreviations: Stage 4, including metastatic and recurrent gastric cancer; HRa, hazard ratio adjusted on the propensity score in 4 strata; CI, confidence interval; CEA, baseline carcinoembryonic antigen; CA19-9, baseline carbohydrate antigen 19-9.