Table 1. Univariate logistic regression analysis indicating associations between covariates of interest and tumour response to neoadjuvant therapy.
| Responders/N | % | OR | 95% CI | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 1.03 | 1.00;1.06 | 0.0478 | ||
| Gender | |||||
| Female | 25/54 | 46.3 | 1.28 | 0.67;2.45 | 0.4477 |
| Male | 49/122 | 40.2 | 1 | ||
| Distance from anal verge (cm) | 0.94 | 0.84;1.06 | 0.3177 | ||
| Total radiotherapy dose (Gy) | |||||
| <50.40 | 11/24 | 45.8 | 1.46 | 0.54;3.93 | 0.4564 |
| 50.40 | 39/91 | 42.9 | 1.29 | 0.63;2.64 | 0.4823 |
| >50.40 | 18/49 | 36.7 | 1 | ||
| Interval between CRT and surgery (days) | 0.99 | 0.79;1.25 | 0.9551 | ||
| Fluoropyrimidine | |||||
| Alone | 42/94 | 44.7 | 1.39 | 0.73;2.63 | 0.3133 |
| +other drugs | 25/68 | 36.8 | 1 | ||
| No | 2/6 | 33.3 | 0.86 | 0.15;5.04 | 0.8672 |
| cTNM | |||||
| I–II | 15/25 | 60.0 | 2.30 | 0.97;5.47 | 0.0591 |
| III | 58/147 | 39.5 | 1 | ||
| TERT T0 | |||||
| >median | 39/87 | 44.8 | 1.29 | 0.71;2.36 | 0.4066 |
| ⩽median | 34/88 | 38.6 | 1 | ||
| TERT T1 | |||||
| ⩽median | 28/59 | 47.5 | 1.48 | 0.71;3.09 | 0.2985 |
| >median | 22/58 | 37.9 | 1 | ||
| TERT ΔT0–T1 | |||||
| >0 | 21/43 | 48.8 | 1.53 | 0.72;3.29 | 0.2708 |
| ⩽0 | 28/73 | 38.4 | 1 | ||
| TERT T2 | |||||
| =0 | 48/69 | 69.6 | 8.38 | 4.03;17.41 | <0.0001 |
| >0 | 18/84 | 21.4 | 1 | ||
| TERT T2 | |||||
| ⩽median | 51/77 | 66.2 | 7.98 | 3.82;16.66 | <0.0001 |
| >median | 15/76 | 19.7 | 1 | ||
| TERT ΔT0–T2 | |||||
| >0 | 41/70 | 58.6 | 3.42 | 1.74;6.69 | 0.0003 |
| ⩽0 | 24/82 | 29.3 | 1 | ||
| CEA T0 | |||||
| ⩽median | 39/86 | 45.3 | 1.22 | 0.66;2.24 | 0.5213 |
| >median | 34/84 | 40.5 | 1 | ||
| CEA T2 | |||||
| ⩽median | 35/79 | 44.3 | 1.19 | 0.62;2.29 | 0.5957 |
| >median | 28/70 | 40.0 | 1 | ||
| CEA ΔT0–T2 | |||||
| ⩽0 | 24/52 | 46.1 | 1.27 | 0.65;2.51 | 0.4840 |
| >0 | 39/97 | 40.2 | 1 |
Abbreviations: CEA=carcinoembryonic antigen; CI=confidence inteval; CRT=chemoradiotherapy; cTNM=clinical Tumour, Node, Metastasis classification; OR=odds ratio; TERT=telomerase reverse transcriptase.
Notes: Median levels of TERT were 148, 98 and 42 copies per ml at T0, T1 and T2 time point, respectively. Median levels of CEA were 2.0 and 1.6 ng ml−1 a T0 and T2 time point, respectively.