Liver metastasis is the only independent prognostic factor in AFP-producing gastric cancer

Table 1 Association between clinicopathological characteristics and α-fetoprotein expression n (%)

Characteristic	n	Gastric cancer		P value1
		AFP-producing	AFP-non producing
Total	1299	23	1276
Sex				0.9974
Male	875	16 (70)	859 (67)
Female	424	7 (30)	417 (33)
Age (yr)				0.5835
Mean	64.5 (range: 27-94)
< 65	610	9 (39)	601 (47)
≥ 65	689	14 (61)	675 (53)
Location				0.8753
Upper	292	4 (17)	288 (23)
Middle	591	10 (44)	581 (45)
Lower	416	9 (39)	407 (32)
Macroscopic type				< 0.0001
Type 0-I/II/III	690	2 (9)	688 (54)
Type 1/2/3/4	609	21 (91)	588 (46)
Histopathological grading				0.8155
Differentiated	596	10 (43)	586 (46)
Undifferentiated	703	13 (57)	690 (54)
Tumor size (mm)				0.0073
< 40	614	4 (17)	610 (48)
≥ 40	685	19 (83)	666 (52)
Venous invasion				< 0.0001
Negative	937	5 (22)	932 (73)
Positive	362	18 (78)	344 (27)
Lymphatic invasion				0.0071
Negative	726	6 (26)	720 (56)
Positive	573	17 (74)	556 (44)
TNM classification
pT categories				0.036
T1	664	4 (17)	660 (52)
T2	122	3 (13)	119 (9)
T3	217	7 (31)	210 (16)
T4	296	9 (39)	287 (23)
pN categories				0.0007
N0	821	9 (39)	812 (63)
N1	140	9 (39)	131 (10)
N2	137	3 (13)	134 (11)
N3	201	2 (9)	199 (16)
pStage
I	769	3 (13)	766 (60)	0.0002
II	137	3 (13)	134 (11)
III	195	9 (39)	186 (14)
IV	198	8 (35)	190 (15)
Absent	955	12 (52)	943 (74)	0.0192
Present	344	11 (48)	333 (26)
Liver metastasis				< 0.0001
Absent	1245	13 (57)	1232 (97)
Present	54	10 (43)	44 (3)

Significantly different values are highlighted using boldface type.

¹P values are from χ² or Fisher’s exact test and were significant at < 0.05. AFP: α-fetoprotein; TNM: Tumor, nodes, metastasis.