Significance and prognostic value of increased serum direct bilirubin level for lymph node metastasis in Chinese rectal cancer patients

Table 2 Pathological characteristics and follow-up results of 469 rectal adenocarcinoma patients n (%)

Characteristic	Total patient s(n = 469)1	RAC patients with LNM (n = 231)1	RAC patients without LNM (n = 238)1	P value
Pathological lymph node stage				< 0.001
pN0	238 (50.7)	0 (0.0)	238 (100.0)	-
pN1	136 (29.0)	136 (58.9)	0 (0.0)	-
pN2	95 (20.3)	95 (41.1)	0 (0.0)	-
Pathological tumor classification (pT)				< 0.001
pT1	18 (3.8)	1 (0.4)	17 (7.1)	-
pT2	90 (19.2)	21 (9.1)	69 (29.0)	-
pT3	118 (25.2)	54 (23.4)	64 (26.9)	-
pT4	243 (51.8)	155 (67.1)	88 (37.0)	-
Pathological distant metastasis (pM)
pM0	439 (93.6)	213 (92.2)	226 (95.0)	0.224
pM1	30 (6.4)	18 (7.8)	12 (5.0)	-
Tumor differentiation
Moderately/well	388 (82.7)	166 (71.9)	222 (93.3)	< 0.001
Poorly	57 (12.2)	46 (19.9)	11 (4.6)	-
Unknown	24 (5.1)	19 (8.2)	5 (2.1)	-
Number of lymph node
Lymph node-positive (metastasis)	2.2 ± 4.5	4.5 ± 5.5	-	-
Total number of lymph node removal	13.3 ± 8.4	15.0 ± 9.1	11.6 ± 7.3	< 0.001
Results of follow-up
Death	72 (15.4)	46 (19.9)	26 (10.9)	0.007
Survival	277 (59.1)	118 (51.1)	159 (66.8)	0.001
Lost	120 (25.6)	67 (29.0)	53 (22.3)	0.095
Time of follow-up2 (mo)	24.0 (9.0-44.3)	20 (9.0-37.9)	29.1 (10.5-48.5)	0.013

¹Plus-minus value indicates mean ± SD;

²Median (inter-quartile range, Q1-Q3). LNM: Lymph node metastasis; RAC: Rectal adenocarcinoma.