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

Table 5 Comparison of clinicopathological factors between α-fetoprotein-producing gastric cancer patients with and without liver metastasis n (%)

Factor	n	Liver metastasis		P value1
		Absence	Presence
Total	23	13	10
Sex				0.1203
Male	14	10 (77)	4 (40)
Female	19	13 (23)	6 (60)
Age (yr)				0.4173
< 65	9	4 (31)	5 (50)
≥ 65	14	9 (69)	5 (50)
Location				0.1717
Upper	4	0 (0)	4 (40)
Middle	10	7 (54)	3 (30)
Lower	9	6 (46)	3 (30)
Macroscopic type				0.4862
Type 0-I/II/III	2	2 (15)	0 (0)
Type 1/2/3/4	21	11 (85)	10 (100)
Histopathological grading				0.2215
Differentiated	10	4 (31)	6 (60)
Undifferentiated	13	9 (69)	4 (40)
Tumor size (mm)				0.6036
< 40	4	3 (23)	1 (10)
≥ 40	19	10 (77)	9 (90)
Venous invasion				1.0000
Negative	5	3 (23)	2 (20)
Positive	18	10 (77)	8 (80)
Lymphatic invasion				0.0886
Negative	7	6 (46)	1 (10)
Positive	16	7 (54)	9 (90)
TNM classification
pT categories				0.7007
T1	4	3 (23)	1 (10)
T2	3	2 (15)	1 (10)
T3	7	5 (39)	2 (20)
T4	9	3 (23)	6 (60)
pN categories				0.9049
N0	9	5 (39)	4 (40)
N1	9	4 (31)	5 (50)
N2	3	2 (15)	1 (10)
N3	2	2 (15)	0 (0)
pStage				0.6736
I	3	3 (23)	0 (0)
II	3	2 (15)	1 (10)
III	9	5 (39)	4 (40)
IV	8	3 (23)	5 (50)

Significantly different values are highlighted using boldface type.

¹P values are from χ² or Fisher’s exact test and were significant at < 0.05. No significantly different prognostic factor was observed between patients with or without liver metastasis in α-fetoprotein-producing gastric cancer. TNM: Tumor, nodes, metastasis.