Neoadjuvant intra-arterial chemoembolization improves tumor pathological regression and survival in Borrmann type IV gastric cancer

Table 4 Comparison of patients’ clinical characteristics between complete response/partial response and stable disease/progressive disease, n (%)/mean ± SD

Characteristics	CR/PR (n = 28)	SD/PD (n = 42)	P value
Age (years)	63.9 ± 13.6	56.3 ± 13.3	P < 0.05a
Sex			0.249
Female	5 (17.9)	14 (33.3)
Male	23 (82.1)	28 (66.7)
BMI (kg/m2), median (range)	22.2 (17.0-30.0)	20.8 (17.0-28.8)	P < 0.05a
Smoking	17 (60.7)	18 (42.9)	0.223
Hemoglobin (g/L)	103.8 ± 22.6	101.7 ± 26.7	0.824
Albumin (g/L)	35.5 ± 3.8	36.6 ± 5.8	0.403
CEA (ng/L)	3.0 ± 1.3	6.9 ± 21.1	0.101
CA 19-9 (ng/L)	12.0 ± 9.3	12.4 ± 9.9	0.881
Tumor location			0.268
Fundus	10 (35.7)	8 (19.0)
Body	7 (25.0)	17 (40.5)
Antrum	10 (35.7)	13 (31.0)
Whole stomach	1 (3.6)	4 (9.5)
T stage			0.077
T3	9 (32.1)	5 (11.9)
T4	19 (67.9)	37 (88.1)
N stage			0.267
N0	3 (10.7)	2 (4.8)
N1	10 (35.7)	8 (19.0)
N2	10 (35.7)	22 (52.4)
N3	5 (17.9)	10 (23.8)
TNM stage			0.077
II	7 (25.0)	3 (7.1)
III	21 (75.0)	39 (92.9)
Degree of differentiation			0.621
Poor	19 (67.9)	32 (76.2)
Well	9 (32.1)	10 (23.8)
Number of IAC			0.227
1	22 (78.6)	26 (61.9)
≥ 2	6 (21.4)	16 (38.1)
Procedures			0.517
TG	15 (53.6)	27 (64.3)
SG	13 (46.4)	15 (35.7)
Reconstruction methods			0.560
B-I and B-II	2 (7.1)	1 (2.4)
R-Y	26 (92.9)	41 (97.6)
Operation time (minutes)	254.8 ± 74.3	230.0 ± 73.1	0.115
Intraoperative blood loss (mL)	162.5 ± 147.4	117.9 ± 134.4	0.032
Postoperative complications	8 (28.6)	7 (16.7)	0.372

^aP < 0.05.

For continuous variables, the independent samples t-test was used when data followed a normal distribution and homogeneity of variance was met; otherwise, the Mann-Whitney U test was applied. For categorical variables, Pearson’s χ² test was used when all expected frequencies were ≥ 5; otherwise, Fisher’s exact test was applied. For data that followed a normal distribution, the paired t-test was used; for data that did not follow a normal distribution, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was applied. For comparisons involving multicategorical variables, the paired Wilcoxon signed-rank test was employed. CR: Complete response; PR: Partial response; SD: Stable disease; PD: Progressive disease; BMI: Body mass index; CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; CA 19-9: Carbohydrate antigen 19-9; TNM: Tumor-node-metastasis; IAC: Intra-arterial chemotherapy; TG: Total gastrectomy; SG: Subtotal gastrectomy; B-I: Billroth I reconstruction; B-II: Billroth II reconstruction; R-Y: Roux-en-Y reconstruction.