TABLE 1.
Characteristics of the cohort at baseline
| Survival status | Trajectory groups | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | Total (n = 2160) | Alive (n = 1918) | Dead (n = 242) | P value | Low‐stable group (n = 1680) | Early‐rising group (n = 291) | Later‐rising group (n = 189) | P value |
| Baseline | ||||||||
| Age, years a | 58.0 (49.0, 65.0) | 57.0 (49.0, 64.0) | 60.0 (50.0, 66.0) | .009 | 57.0 (49.0, 65.0) | 58.0 (49.0, 64.0) | 59.0 (50.0, 65.0) | .418 |
| Male, n (%) | 1295 (60.0) | 1152 (60.1) | 143 (59.1) | .825 | 1039 (61.8) | 150 (51.5) | 106 (56.1) | |
| Preoperative CEA, ng/mL a | 3.8 (2.1, 9.1) | 3.6 (2.0, 8.8) | 5.8 (2.8, 13.8) | <.001 | 2.9 (1.8, 5.0) | 17.1 (9.1, 33.5) | 22.1 (12.9, 41.0) | <.001 |
| Primary site | .051 | .236 | ||||||
| Colon, n (%) | 1220 (56.5) | 1098 (57.2) | 122 (50.4) | 961 (57.2) | 151 (51.9) | 108 (57.1) | ||
| Rectum, n (%) | 940 (43.5) | 820 (42.8) | 120 (49.6) | 719 (42.8) | 140 (48.1) | 81 (42.9) | ||
| Surgical approach | <.001 | .027 | ||||||
| Laparoscopic resection, n (%) | 1064 (49.3) | 981 (51.1) | 83 (34.3) | 850 (50.6) | 137 (47.1) | 77 (40.7) | ||
| Open resection, n (%) | 1096 (50.7) | 937 (48.9) | 159 (65.7) | 830 (49.4) | 154 (52.9) | 112 (59.3) | ||
| Tumor differentiation | <.001 | .644 | ||||||
| Well, n (%) | 106 (4.9) | 101 (5.3) | 5 (2.1) | 84 (5.0) | 17 (5.8) | 5 (2.6) | ||
| Moderate, n (%) | 1287 (59.6) | 1174 (61.2) | 113 (46.7) | 1000 (59.5) | 173 (59.5) | 114 (60.3) | ||
| Poor‐undifferentiated, n (%) | 670 (31.0) | 563 (29.4) | 107 (44.2) | 518 (30.8) | 92 (31.6) | 60 (31.7) | ||
| Unknown, n (%) | 97 (4.5) | 80 (4.2) | 17 (7.0) | 78 (4.6) | 9 (3.1) | 10 (5.3) | ||
| T stage | <.001 | <.001 | ||||||
| T1, n (%) | 90 (4.2) | 87 (4.5) | 3 (1.2) | 80 (4.8) | 1 (0.3) | 9 (4.8) | ||
| T2, n (%) | 275 (12.7) | 263 (13.7) | 12 (5.0) | 240 (14.3) | 14 (4.8) | 21 (11.1) | ||
| T3, n (%) | 1635 (75.7) | 1432 (74.7) | 203 (83.9) | 1246 (74.2) | 248 (85.2) | 141 (74.6) | ||
| T4, n (%) | 160 (7.4) | 136 (7.1) | 24 (9.9) | 114 (6.8) | 28 (9.6) | 18 (9.5) | ||
| N stage | <.001 | <.001 | ||||||
| N0, n (%) | 1126 (52.1) | 1067 (55.6) | 59 (24.4) | 914 (54.4) | 114 (39.2) | 98 (51.9) | ||
| N1, n (%) | 714 (33.1) | 620 (32.3) | 94 (38.8) | 532 (31.7) | 126 (43.3) | 56 (29.6) | ||
| N2, n (%) | 320 (14.8) | 231 (12.0) | 89 (36.8) | 234 (13.9) | 51 (17.5) | 35 (18.5) | ||
| AJCC 8th ed. Stage | <.001 | <.001 | ||||||
| I, n (%) | 332 (15.4) | 309 (16.1) | 23 (9.5) | 280 (16.7) | 23 (7.9) | 29 (15.3) | ||
| II, n (%) | 853 (39.5) | 803 (41.9) | 50 (20.7) | 680 (40.5) | 100 (34.4) | 73 (38.6) | ||
| III, n (%) | 975 (45.1) | 806 (42.0) | 169 (69.8) | 720 (42.9) | 168 (57.7) | 87 (46.0) | ||
| Lymph node yield | .210 | .184 | ||||||
| <12, n (%) | 371 (17.2) | 322 (16.8) | 49 (20.2) | 299 (17.8) | 39 (13.4) | 33 (17.5) | ||
| ≥12, n (%) | 1789 (82.8) | 1596 (83.2) | 193 (79.8) | 1381 (82.2) | 252 (86.6) | 156 (82.5) | ||
| Mucinous (colloid) type, n (%) | 140 (6.5) | 121 (6.3) | 19 (7.9) | .435 | 106 (6.3) | 18 (6.2) | 16 (8.5) | .509 |
| Lymphovascular invasion, n (%) | 197 (9.1) | 148 (7.7) | 49 (20.3) | <.001 | 153 (9.1) | 28 (9.6) | 16 (8.5) | .911 |
| Perineural invasion, n (%) | 120 (5.6) | 96 (5.0) | 24 (9.9) | .003 | 95 (5.7) | 15 (5.2) | 10 (5.3) | .928 |
| Adjuvant chemotherapy, n (%) | 1821 (84.3) | 1604 (83.6) | 217 (89.7) | .019 | 1403 (83.5) | 272 (93.5) | 146 (77.2) | <.001 |
| Follow‐Up | ||||||||
| Survival time, months a | 43.2 (32.0, 59.8) | 45.6 (34.1, 62.0) | 32.7 (22.1, 43.6) | <.001 | 43.9 (32.3, 60.9) | 40.6 (27.6, 57.5) | 42.6 (33.1, 56.5) | .045 |
| Recurrence‐free time, months a | 39.2 (25.3, 56.1) | 41.1 (28.7, 58.5) | 14.5 (7.1, 28.9) | <.001 | 39.7 (26.2, 56.8) | 37.3 (20.2, 53.7) | 37.8 (21.6, 50.9) | .002 |
| Recurrence, n (%) | 480 (22.2) | 297 (15.5) | 183 (75.6) | <.001 | 337 (20.1) | 83 (28.5) | 60 (31.7) | <.001 |
a
Data are median (IQR).