Prognostic impact of lesser curvature lymph node count in stage I/II gastric cancer: A retrospective study

Table 1 Baseline clinicopathological characteristics of the study cohort (n = 254), n (%)/mean ± SD

	lesser curvature lymph node ≤ 7 (n = 96)	lesser curvature lymph node > 7 (n = 158)	P value
Age (year)			0.670
< 65	38 (39.58)	57 (36.08)
≥ 65	58 (60.42)	101 (63.92)
Sex			0.615
Female	22 (22.92)	42 (26.58)
Male	74 (77.08)	116 (73.42)
Differentiation			0.858
Poor	33 (34.38)	50 (31.65)
Moderate	59 (61.46)	99 (62.66)
Well	4 (4.17)	9 (5.7)
T stage			0.925
T1	24 (25)	40 (25.32)
T2	17 (17.71)	25 (15.82)
T3	55 (57.29)	93 (58.86)
N stage			0.767
N0	64 (66.67)	105 (66.46)
N1	26 (27.08)	46 (29.11)
N2	6 (6.25)	7 (4.43)
TNM stage			1.000
I	23 (23.96)	37 (23.42)
II	73 (76.04)	121 (76.58)
Perineural invasion			1.000
Yes	57 (59.38)	95 (60.13)
No	39 (40.63)	63 (39.87)
Vascular invasion			0.166
Yes	47 (48.96)	62 (39.24)
No	49 (51.04)	96 (60.76)
Tumor size (cm)	3.99 ± 2.48	3.60 ± 1.73	0.511
Total LN count	17.91 ± 5.34	23.44 ± 6.94	< 0.001
BMI (kg/m2)			0.324
< 23	59 (61.46)	108 (68.35)
≥ 23	37 (38.54)	50 (31.65)
Smoke			0.623
Yes	25 (26.04)	47 (29.75)
No	71 (73.96)	111 (70.25)
Drink			0.942
Yes	20 (20.83)	31 (19.62)
No	76 (79.17)	127 (80.38)
CEA (ng/mL)			0.680
< 5	80 (83.33)	136 (86.08)
≥ 5	16 (16.67)	22 (13.92)
CA199 (μg/mL)			1.000
< 27	84 (87.5)	138 (87.34)
≥ 27	12 (12.5)	20 (12.66)
Tumor location			0.788
Upper	37 (38.54)	55 (34.81)
Middle	31 (33.29)	57 (36.08)
Lower	28 (29.17)	46 (29.11)
Postoperative chemotherapy			0.422
Yes	38 (39.58)	72 (45.57)
No	58 (60.42)	86 (54.43)

T: Tumor; N: Node; TNM: Tumor-node-metastasis; LN: Lymph node; BMI: Body mass index; CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; CA199: Carbohydrate antigen 19‑9.

Table 2 Multivariate Cox regression analysis of factors associated with overall survival

Variable	Model 1 (without total LN)		Model 2 (with total LN)
	HR (95%CI)	P value	HR (95%CI)	P value
Age (≥ 65 vs < 65)	1.76 (1.00-3.12)	0.051	1.70 (0.95-3.00)	0.075
T stage (T3 vs T1/T2)	1.83 (0.92-3.65)	0.083	1.78 (0.89-3.55)	0.100
N stage (N+ vs N0)	1.89 (1.00-3.54)	0.046	1.99 (1.05-3.75)	0.034
LVI (yes vs no)	1.03 (0.53-2.03)	0.921	1.00 (0.50-1.96)	0.969
PNI (yes vs no)	0.84 (0.40-1.78)	0.768	0.90 (0.42-1.92)	0.677
Differentiation (poor vs moderate/high)	1.40 (0.3-2.36)	0.210	1.43 (0.85-2.42)	0.180
Lesser curvature LN (≤ 7 vs > 7)	2.49 (1.50-4.14)	< 0.001	2.20 (1.27-3.82)	0.005
Total LN (< 16 vs ≥ 16)			1.46 (0.79-2.72)	0.228

T: Tumor; N: Node; LVI: Lymphovascular invasion; PNI: Perineural invasion; LN: Lymph node; HR: Hazard ratio; CI: Confidence interval.