Table 2. Characteristics of low–risk patients (n = 129) and high–risk patients (n = 61), stratified by treatment type (CTx vs CRT).
| Variable | Low–risk patients (n = 129) | High–risk patients (n = 61) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CTx (n = 103) | CRT (n = 26) | P value | CTx (n = 33) | CRT (n = 28) | P value | ||
| Age | 0.014* | 0.973 | |||||
| ≤ 60 years | 36 (35.0) | 16 (61.5) | 14 (42.4) | 12 (42.9) | |||
| > 60 years | 67 (65.0) | 10 (38.5) | 19 (57.6) | 16 (57.1) | |||
| Sex | 0.022* | 0.441 | |||||
| Female | 62 (60.2) | 22 (84.6) | 18 (54.5) | 18 (64.3) | |||
| Male | 41 (39.8) | 4 (15.4) | 15 (45.5) | 10 (35.7) | |||
| pT stage | 0.479 | 0.243 | |||||
| pT1/2 | 10 (9.7) | 4 (15.4) | 3 (9.1) | 0 (0) | |||
| pT3/4 | 93 (90.3) | 22 (84.6) | 30 (90.9) | 28 (100) | |||
| pN stage | 0.448 | 0.493 | |||||
| pN0 | 60 (58.3) | 13 (50.0) | 4 (12.1) | 3 (10.7) | |||
| pN1 | 43 (41.7) | 13 (50.0) | 4 (12.1) | 6 (21.4) | |||
| pN2 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 25 (75.8) | 19 (67.9) | |||
| pTNM stage | 0.448 | 1.000 | |||||
| pStage II | 60 (58.3) | 13 (50.0) | 4 (12.1) | 3 (10.7) | |||
| pStage III | 43 (41.7) | 13 (50.0) | 29 (87.9) | 25 (89.3) | |||
| Histologic grade | – | 0.974 | |||||
| Others | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 27 (81.8) | 23 (82.1) | |||
| Poorly differentiated | 103 (100) | 26 (100) | 6 (18.2) | 5 (17.9) | |||
| Tumor size (cm) | 4.5 (1.0–11.0) | 3.9 (0.2–9.0) | 0.612 | 5.5 (1.1–12.0) | 5.5 (3.0–9.0) | 0.796 | |
| Number of harvested lymph nodes | 27 (7–89) | 22 (12–39) | <0.001* | 29 (13–119) | 28 (12–76) | 0.379 | |
| Preoperative CEA (ng/mL) | 2.4 (0.9–49.7) | 1.6 (0.9–13.0) | 0.111 | 4.2 (0.9–215.0) | 4.1 (0.9–40.0) | 0.134 | |
| Postoperative CEA (ng/mL) | 0.9 (0.3–11.2) | 1.0 (0.5–4.5) | 0.389 | 1.2 (0.8–7.8) | 1.2 (0.5–4.4) | 0.572 | |
| Lymphovascular invasion | 0.547 | 0.544 | |||||
| No | 66 (64.1) | 15 (57.7) | 8 (24.2) | 5 (17.9) | |||
| Yes | 37 (35.9) | 11 (42.3) | 25 (75.8) | 23 (82.1) | |||
| Perineural invasion | 0.161 | 0.554 | |||||
| No | 82 (79.6) | 24 (92.3) | 14 (42.4) | 14 (50.0) | |||
| Yes | 21 (20.4) | 2 (7.7) | 19 (57.6) | 14 (50.0) | |||
| Involved resection margin | – | 0.037* | |||||
| No | 103 (100) | 26 (100) | 25 (75.8) | 14 (50.0) | |||
| Yes | 0(0) | 0(0) | 8 (24.2) | 14 (50.0) | |||
| Adjuvant chemotherapy for 6 months | 0.013* | 1.000 | |||||
| No | 20 (19.4) | 0 (0) | 3 (9.1) | 2 (7.1) | |||
| Yes | 83 (80.6) | 26 (100) | 30 (90.9) | 26 (92.9) | |||
Categorical variables are presented as n (%), continuous variables are presented as median (range).
Abbreviations: CTx = chemotherapy alone; CRT = chemoradiotherapy; CEA = carcinoembryonic antigen.
* Statistically significant.