Table 1. Patient characteristics.
| r-CEA < 5 (n=479) | r-CEA ≥ 5 (n=266) | p | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median disease free interval (range, months) | 16.4 (0.9-158.0) | 15.8 (0.7-118.4) | |
| Gender | 0.390 | ||
| Male | 314 (65.6%) | 166 (62.4%) | |
| Female | 165 (34.4%) | 100 (37.6%) | |
| Median age (range, years) | |||
| Initial pT-stage | 0.089 | ||
| pT0-2 | 116 (24.2%) | 50 (18.8%) | |
| pT3-4 | 363 (75.8%) | 216 (81.2%) | |
| Initial pN-stage | < 0.001 | ||
| pN0-1 | 344 (71.8%) | 155 (58.3%) | |
| pN2-3 | 135 (28.2%) | 111 (41.7%) | |
| Initial CEA | < 0.001 | ||
| CEA < 5 | 383 (80.0%) | 118 (44.4%) | |
| CEA ≥ 5 | 96 (20.0%) | 148 (55.6%) | |
| Initial treatment | 0.899 | ||
| Surgery alone | 228 (47.6%) | 132 (49.6%) | |
| Surgery + adjuvant CCRT | 101 (21.1%) | 57 (21.4%) | |
| NACRT + Surgery | 144 (30.1%) | 75 (28.2%) | |
| Preop RT + Surgery | 6 (1.2%) | 2 (0.8%) | |
| Pattern of failure | 0.064 | ||
| LRR | 91 (19.0%) | 51 (19.2%) | |
| DM | 323 (67.4%) | 162 (60.9%) | |
| LRR + DM | 65 (13.6%) | 53 (19.9%) | |
| Treatment after recurrence | < 0.001 | ||
| Salvage treatment | 165 (34.4%) | 54 (20.3%) | |
| Surgery +/− CCRT | 140 (29.2%) | 37 (13.9%) | |
| RT +/− chemo | 9 (1.9%) | 10 (3.8%) | |
| RFA only (for liver metastasis) | 16 (3.3%) | 7 (2.6%) | |
| Palliative or conservative | 248 (51.8%) | 183 (68.8%) | |
| Unknown | 66 (13.8%) | 29 (10.9%) |
CEA, carcinoembryonic antigen level; CCRT, concurrent chemoradiotherapy; NACRT, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy; LRR, locoregional recurrence; DM, distant metastasis; RT, radiation therapy; RFA, radiofrequency ablation