Table 1.
The associations between SCC-Ag, albumin level and the clinicopathological characteristics
| Variables | All patients (N = 308) | SCC-Ag level | Albumin level | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low level (N = 249) | High level (N = 59) | P value | Low level (N = 49) | High level (N = 259) | P value | ||
| No. of patients (%)/ mean ± std | |||||||
| Gender | 0.189* | 0.883* | |||||
| Male | 230 (74.7%) | 182 (73.1%) | 48 (81.4%) | 37 (75.5%) | 193 (74.5%) | ||
| Female | 78 (25.3%) | 67 (26.9%) | 11 (18.6%) | 12 (24.5%) | 66 (25.5%) | ||
| Age (year) | 58.05 ± 8.34 | 57.41 ± 8.40 | 60.73 ± 7.59 | 0.006** | 62.51 ± 8.40 | 57.20 ± 8.08 | < 0.001** |
| Smoking history | 0.608* | 0.476* | |||||
| No | 108 (35.1%) | 89 (35.7%) | 19 (32.2%) | 15 (30.6%) | 93 (35.9%) | ||
| Yes | 200 (64.9%) | 160 (64.3%) | 40 (67.8%) | 34 (69.4%) | 166 (64.1%) | ||
| Drinking history | 0.857* | 0.871* | |||||
| No | 217 (70.5%) | 176 (70.7%) | 41 (69.5%) | 35 (71.4%) | 182 (70.3%) | ||
| Yes | 91 (29.5%) | 73 (29.1%) | 18 (30.5%) | 14 (28.6%) | 77 (29.7%) | ||
| Tumor location | 0.344*** | 0.651c | |||||
| Upper | 24 (7.8%) | 21 (8.4%) | 3 (5.1%) | 2 (4.1%) | 22 (8.5%) | ||
| Middle | 102 (33.1%) | 78 (31.3%) | 24 (40.7%) | 17 (34.7%) | 85 (32.8%) | ||
| Lower | 182 (59.1%) | 150 (60.3%) | 32 (55.2%) | 30 (61.2%) | 152 (58.7%) | ||
| T stage | 0.017*** | 0.954* | |||||
| T1 | 52 (16.9%) | 49 (19.7%) | 3 (5.1%) | 9 (18.4%) | 43 (16.6%) | ||
| T2 | 84 (27.3%) | 66 (26.5%) | 18 (30.5%) | 13 (26.5%) | 71 (27.4%) | ||
| T3 | 172 (55.8%) | 134 (53.8%) | 38 (64.4%) | 27 (55.1%) | 145 (56.0%) | ||
| Differentiation | 0.584*** | 0.494*** | |||||
| Grade I | 77 (25.1%) | 59 (23.7%) | 18 (30.5%) | 13 (26.5%) | 64 (24.8%) | ||
| Grade II | 163 (53.1%) | 132 (53.0%) | 31 (52.5%) | 29 (59.2%) | 134 (51.9%) | ||
| Grade III | 66 (21.5%) | 56 (22.5%) | 10 (17.0%) | 7 (14.3%) | 59 (22.9%) | ||
| Grade IV | 1 (0.3%) | 1 (0.8%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (0.4%) | ||
| LNs | 20.0 ± 14.1 | 19.5 ± 13.6 | 26.8 ± 16.1 | 0.250** | 17.2 ± 10.9 | 20.4 ± 14.6 | 0.146** |
| Tumor length (cm) | 3.4 ± 1.7 | 3.3 ± 1.6 | 4.0 ± 1.6 | 0.002** | 3.7 ± 2.0 | 3.4 ± 1.6 | 0.263** |
| SCC-Ag (μg/L) | 0.80 ± 1.28 | – | – | – | 1.26 ± 2.23 | 0.72 ± 0.99 | 0.007** |
| Albumin (g/L) | 43.2 ± 3.4 | 43.4 ± 3.1 | 42.3 ± 4.2 | 0.020** | – | – | – |
| Anastomotic leakage | 0.855* | 0.591*** | |||||
| No | 280 (90.9%) | 226 (90.8%) | 54 (91.5%) | 46 (93.9%) | 234 (90.3%) | ||
| Yes | 28 (9.1%) | 23 (9.2%) | 5 (8.5%) | 3 (6.1%) | 25 (9.7%) | ||
| Chylothorax | 0.095*** | 0.406*** | |||||
| No | 305 (99.0%) | 248 (99.6%) | 57 (96.6%) | 48 (98.0%) | 257 (99.2%) | ||
| Yes | 3 (1.0%) | 1 (0.4%) | 2 (3.4%) | 1 (2.0%) | 2 (0.8%) | ||
| Respiratory complications | 0.254*** | 0.699*** | |||||
| No | 296 (96.1%) | 241 (96.8%) | 55 (93.2%) | 48 (98.0%) | 248 (95.8%) | ||
| Yes | 12 (3.9%) | 8 (3.2%) | 4 (6.8%) | 1 (2.0%) | 11 (4.2%) | ||
| Cardiovascular complications | 1.000*** | 0.245*** | |||||
| No | 301 (98.0%) | 243 (98.0%) | 58 (98.3%) | 47 (95.9%) | 254 (98.4%) | ||
| Yes | 6 (2.0%) | 5 (2.0%) | 1 (1.7%) | 2 (4.1%) | 4 (1.6%) | ||
*: χ2 test; **: student’s t test; ***: Fisher’s exact test; LNs: the number of lymph nodes removed in the surgery