Efficacy and safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors plus chemotherapy in esophageal cancer patients with liver metastases

Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study cohort, n (%)

Demographic and clinical characteristics	Total number of cases (n = 126)	CMT group (n = 87)	CMT + ICI group (n = 39)	χ² value	P value
Age (years)				0.451	0.502
> 60	59 (46.8)	39 (44.8)	20 (51.3)
≤ 60	67 (53.2)	48 (55.2)	19 (48.7)
Sex				0.079	0.779
Male	119 (94.4)	83 (95.4)	36 (92.3)
Female	7 (5.6)	4 (4.6)	3 (7.7)
Underlying diseases				0.016	0.900
Yes	43 (34.1)	30 (34.5)	13 (33.3)
No	83 (65.9)	57 (65.5)	26 (66.7)
Dysphagia or cancer-related symptoms				0.182	0.669
Yes	106 (84.1)	74 (85.1)	32 (682.1)
No	20 (15.9)	13 (14.9)	7 (17.9)
KPS score				-	0.094
≥ 70	124 (98.4)	87 (100.0)	37 (94.9)
< 70	2 (1.6)	0 (0.0)	2 (5.1)
Histology				2.098	0.321
ESCC	111 (88.1)	74 (85.1)	37 (94.9)
EAC	3 (2.4)	3 (3.4)	2 (5.1)
Other	12 (9.5)	10 (11.5)	0 (0.0)
Primary tumor location				1.649	0.428
Upper	4 (3.2)	3 (3.4)	1 (2.6)
Middle	51 (40.5)	32 (36.8)	19 (48.7)
Lower	71 (56.3)	52 (59.8)	19 (48.7)
Tumor differentiation grade				1.476	0.452
G1	6 (4.8)	5 (5.7)	1 (2.6)
G2	46 (36.5)	34 (39.1)	12 (30.8)
G3-G4	74 (58.7)	48 (55.2)	26 (66.7)
Tumor stage				0.961	0.327
T1-2	17 (13.5)	10 (11.5)	7 (17.9)
T3-4	109 (86.5)	77 (88.5)	32 (82.1)
Nodal stage				0.007	0.932
N0	15 (11.9)	11 (12.6)	4 (10.3)
N+	111 (88.1)	76 (87.4)	35 (89.7)
Synchronous liver metastasis at initial diagnosis				0.487	0.485
Yes	62 (49.2)	41 (47.1)	21 (53.8)
No	64 (50.8)	46 (52.9)	18 (46.2)
Distant lymph node metastasis				0.054	0.816
Yes	53 (42.1)	36 (41.4)	17 (43.6)
No	73 (57.9)	51 (58.6)	22 (56.4)
Primary lesion surgery				0.184	0.668
Yes	52 (41.3)	37 (42.5)	15 (38.5)
No	74 (58.7)	50 (57.5)	24 (61.5)
Primary lesion radiotherapy				0.227	0.634
Yes	51 (40.5)	34 (39.1)	17 (43.6)
No	75 (59.5)	53 (60.9)	22 (56.4)
Pre-hepatic metastasis chemotherapy				0.483	0.487
Yes	41 (32.5)	30 (34.5)	11 (28.2)
No	85 (67.5)	57 (65.5)	28 (71.8)
Pre-hepatic metastasis targeted therapy				-	0.552
Yes	3 (2.4)	84 (96.6)	0 (0.0)
No	123 (97.6)	3 (3.4)	39 (100.0)
Child-Pugh score				-	1.000
> 6	2 (1.6)	2 (97.7)	0 (0.0)
≤ 6	124 (98.4)	85 (2.3)	39 (100.0)
Oligometastatic liver disease				0.491	0.483
Yes	24 (19)	18 (20.7)	6 (15.4)
No	102 (81)	69 (79.3)	33 (84.6)
Number of liver metastases				1.680	0.195
> 3	80 (63.5)	52 (59.8)	28 (71.8)
≤ 3	46 (36.5)	35 (40.2)	11 (28.2)
Hepatic lobe involvement				5.638	0.060
Left	8 (6.3)	4 (4.6)	4 (10.3)
Right	40 (31.7)	33 (37.9)	7 (17.9)
Bilateral	78 (61.9)	50 (57.5)	28 (71.8)
Extrahepatic metastasis				3.739	0.060
Yes	55 (43.7)	33 (37.9)	22 (56.4)
No	71 (56.3)	54 (62.1)	17 (43.6)
Lung metastasis				2.321	0.128
Yes	60 (32.1)	18 (20.7)	13 (33.3)
No	127 (67.9)	69 (79.3)	26 (66.7)
Bone metastasis				0.182	0.669
Yes	20 (15.9)	13 (14.9)	7 (17.9)
No	106 (84.1)	74 (85.1)	32 (82.1)
Brain metastasis				-	1.000
Yes	3 (2.4)	2 (2.3)	1 (2.6)
No	123 (97.6)	85 (97.7)	38 (97.4)

Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. For certain variables, the Fisher’s exact test was applied in the absence of χ² values. G1: Well-differentiated; G2: Moderately differentiated; G3: Poorly differentiated; G4: Undifferentiated; T: Tumor; N: Node; CMT: Chemotherapy; ICI: Immune checkpoint inhibitor; KPS: Karnofsky Performance Status; ESCC: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; EAC: Esophageal adenocarcinoma.