Table 1.
Clinical characteristics of the study population and univariable analyses between predetermined clinical predictors and response groups.
| Characteristics | All | pCR (n=18) | non-pCR (n=51) | p-value | GR (n=43) | non-GR (n=26) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |||
| Age at diagnosis, in years (mean ± SD) | 61.0 ± 9.2 | 60.1 ± 8.8 | 61.4 ± 9.4 | NA | 61.1 ± 9.4 | 60.9 ± 9.0 | NA |
| Sex | NA | NA | |||||
| Male | 61 (88) | 3 (17) | 5 (10) | 5 (12) | 3 (12) | ||
| Female | 8 (12) | 15 (83) | 46 (90) | 38 (88) | 23 (88) | ||
| BMI, in kg/m2 (mean ± SD) | 25.7 ± 3.8 | 24.7 ± 5.2 | 26.1 ± 3.1 | NA | 25.2 ± 4.2 | 26.7 ± 2.8 | NA |
| WHO performance status at diagnosis | NA | NA | |||||
| 0 | 27 (39) | 5 (28) | 22 (43) | 18 (42) | 9 (35) | ||
| 1 | 40 (58) | 12 (67) | 28 (55) | 24 (56) | 16 (62) | ||
| 2 | 2 (3) | 1 (6) | 1 (2) | 1 (2) | 1 (4) | ||
| Tumor location | NA | NA | |||||
| Proximal esophagus | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | 1 (2) | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | ||
| Middle esophagus | 9 (13) | 5 (28) | 4 (8) | 8 (19) | 1 (4) | ||
| Distal esophagus | 40 (58) | 6 (33) | 34 (67) | 22 (51) | 18 (69) | ||
| Gastroesophageal junction | 19 (28) | 7 (39) | 12 (24) | 12 (28) | 7 (27) | ||
| Clinical T status* | 0.233 | 0.698 | |||||
| T2 | 9 (13) | 2 (11) | 7 (14) | 6 (14) | 3 (12) | ||
| T3 | 59 (86) | 15 (83) | 44 (86) | 36 (84) | 23 (88) | ||
| T4 | 1 (1) | 1 (6) | 0 (0) | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | ||
| Clinical N status* | NA | NA | |||||
| N0 | 23 (33) | 6 (33) | 17 (33) | 15 (35) | 8 (31) | ||
| N1 | 26 (38) | 5 (28) | 21 (41) | 12 (28) | 14 (54) | ||
| N2 | 18 (26) | 7 (39) | 11 (22) | 15 (35) | 3 (12) | ||
| N3 | 2 (3) | 0 (0) | 2 (4) | 1 (2) | 1 (4) | ||
| Histology | 0.001 | 0.069 | |||||
| Adenocarcinoma | 57 (83) | 10 (56) | 47 (92) | 32 (74) | 25 (96) | ||
| Squamous cell carcinoma | 11 (16) | 7 (39) | 4 (8) | 10 (23) | 1 (4) | ||
| Undifferentiated large cell carcinoma | 1 (1) | 1 (6) | 0 (0) | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | ||
| Tumor regression grade | NA | NA | |||||
| TRG 1 (pCR) | 18 (26) | 18 (100) | NA | 18 (42) | NA | ||
| TRG 2 | 25 (36) | NA | 25 (49) | 25 (58) | NA | ||
| TRG 3 | 20 (29) | NA | 20 (39) | NA | 20 (77) | ||
| TRG 4 | 6 (9) | NA | 6 (12) | NA | 6 (23) | ||
| Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy regimen | 0.902 | 0.357 | |||||
| Carboplatin/paclitaxel + 41.4Gy | 43 (45) | 11 (61) | 32 (63) | 25 (58) | 18 (69) | ||
| 5-fluorouracil-based + 50.4 Gy | 26 (38) | 7 (39) | 19 (37) | 18 (42) | 8 (31) | ||
| Time interval nCRT to surgery (median, IQR) | 8 (7 – 10) | 8 (7 – 9) | 8 (7 – 10) | 0.269 | 8 (7 – 10) | 8 (6 – 9) | 0.630 |
BMI body mass index at diagnosis; IQR interquartile range; NA not applicable; pCR pathologic complete response; TRG tumor regression grade; WHO World Health Organization
*
Clinical T and N status are based on AJCC TNM 7th edition.
Note. P-values in this table were based on χ2 or Fisher’s exact test for categorical variables and the Mann-Whitney U test for continuous variables.