Prognostic factors and optimal timing for initiating adjuvant chemotherapy in stage IIIC gastric cancer

Table 1 Comparison of clinicopathological characteristics between stage IIIB (n = 60) and stage IIIC (n = 62) gastric cancer patients, n (%)

Variable	Stage IIIB	Stage IIIC	P value
Gender
Female	15 (25.0)	20 (32.3)	0.376
Male	45 (75.0)	42 (67.7)
Age (years)
< 60	27 (45.0)	27 (43.5)	0.872
≥ 60	33 (55.0)	35 (56.5)
Tumor location
Upper	25 (41.7)	24 (40.2)	0.864
Middle	7 (11.7)	9 (13.1)
Lower	28 (46.6)	29 (46.7)
Atrophic gastritis
No	45 (75.0)	42 (67.7)	0.376
Yes	15 (25.0)	20 (32.3)
CEA (μg/L)
< 5	47 (78.3)	44 (71.0)	0.350
≥ 5	13 (21.7)	18 (29.0)
CA19-9 (kU/L)
< 37	45 (75.0)	43 (69.4)	0.487
≥ 37	15 (25.0)	19 (30.6)
CA125 (kU/L)
< 35	58 (96.7)	62 (100)	0.147
≥ 35	2 (3.3)	0 (0.0)
PLR
< 154	21 (35.0)	23 (37.1)	0.809
≥ 154	39 (65.0)	39 (62.9)
NLR
< 2.15	27 (45.0)	29 (46.8)	0.844
≥ 2.15	33 (55.0)	33 (53.2)
pT stage
T3	20 (33.3)	8 (12.9)	0.014
T4a	37 (61.7)	50 (80.6)
T4b	3 (5.0)	4 (6.5)
Pathological Ki-67
Low	14 (23.3)	15 (24.2)	0.911
High	46 (76.7)	47 (75.8)
HER-2
Low	52 (86.7)	59 (95.2)	0.101
High	8 (13.3)	3 (4.8)
EBER
Negative	52 (86.7)	57 (91.9)	0.346
Positive	8 (13.3)	5 (8.1)
P53
Low	33 (55.0)	35 (56.5)	0.872
High	27 (45.0)	27 (43.5)
pMMR
No	2 (3.3)	5 (8.1)	0.463
Yes	58 (96.7)	57 (91.9)
LVI
No	18 (30.0)	7 (11.3)	0.010
Yes	42 (70.0)	55 (88.7)
Tumor size (cm)
< 5	36 (60.0)	22 (35.5)	0.007
≥ 5	24 (40.0)	40 (64.5)
Histological differentiation
Others	20 (33.3)	1 (1.6)	< 0.001
Poorly-differentiated	40 (66.7)	61 (98.4)
Borrmann classification
Type I	6 (10.0)	3 (4.8)	0.014
Type II	42 (70.0)	36 (58.1)
Type III	9 (15.0)	9 (14.5)
Type IV	3 (5.0)	14 (22.6)
MLR
< 0.5	52 (86.7)	18 (29.0)	< 0.001
≥ 0.5	8 (13.3)	44 (71.0)
pN stage
2	2 (3.3)	0 (0.0)	< 0.001
3a	58 (96.7)	1 (1.6)
3b	0 (0.0)	61 (98.4)
Cycle (week)
6	34 (56.7)	28 (45.2)	0.071
8	23 (38.3)	22 (35.5)
12	3 (5)	12 (19.3)
TI (week)
< 4	9 (15)	13 (21.0)	0.055
< 6	26 (43.3)	28 (45.2)
< 8	9 (15)	1 (1.6)
≥ 8	16 (26.7)	20 (32.2)

CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; CA19-9: Carbohydrate antigen 19-9; CA125: Carbohydrate antigen 125; PLR: Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio; NLR: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; pT: Pathological T; EBER: Epstein-Barr virus-encoded small RNA status; HER-2: Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2; pMMR: Proficient mismatch repair or deficient mismatch repair; LVI: Lymphatic and/or blood vessel invasion status; MLR: Metastatic lymph node ratio; pN: Pathological N; TI: Time interval.