Immunological milieu in the peritoneal cavity at laparotomy for gastric cancer

Table 2 Carcinoembryonic antigen values in sera and peritoneal lavage

Source	Control	Stage I A	Stage I B	Stage II	Stage III	Stage IV
CEA
PB (ng/mL)	Not tested	2.09 (1.39-2.78)	2.03 (0.96-3.1)	3.06 (2.04-4.07)	2.54 (0.38-4.69)	7.98 (1.18-15.82)
PL (ng/g protein)	56.53 (21.82-91.24)	44.17 (27.37-60.96)	61.95 (11.98-111.91)	83.14 (7.31-187.54)	262.63 (7.26-517.26)	1234.00 (87.77-2380.22)
CD4/CD8
PB (ratio)	5.379 (2.705-8.052)	5.595 (3.224-7.967)	4.571 (2.057-7.086)	5.277 (1.369-9.184)	7.999 (3.366-12.632)	4.156 (2.228-6.083)
PL (ratio)	0.494 (0.338-0.649)	0.553 (0.421-0.685)	0.697 (0.511-0.883)	0.638 (0.395-0.881)	1.242 (0.961-1.522)	1.158 (0.907-1.408)
CD45RA-/CCR7-
PB (%)	60.43 (46.42-74.44)	58.29 (48.93-67.64)	53.92 (32.65-75.2)	57.36 (42.01-72.71)	49.01 (29.31-68.71)	45.73 (32.79-58.67)
PL (%)	81.17 (81.12-93.22)	81.67 (76.35-87.01)	76.2 (59.43-92.96)	72.3 (61.01-83.58)	68.36 (58.70-78.02)	51.92 (38.34-65.50)
NKT
PB (%)	9.19 (5.83-12.54)	7.59 (5.63-9.56)	9.47 (4.41-14.53)	10.71 (1.55-19.87)	5.43 (0.54-10.33)	7.16 (3.95-10.3)
PL (%)	18.1 (9.83-26.37)	17.25 (13.54-20.97)	15.74 (9.23-22.25)	15.38 (7.71-23.04)	9.66 (1.2-18.11)	9.91 (6.94-12.88)

PB: Peripheral blood; PL: Peritoneal lavage; CI: Confidence interval. The data are presented as the median and 95% CI. The statistical analysis of the differences revealed higher CEA and CD4/CD8, lower CD8⁺ effector memory T cells and NKT cells in the peritoneal cavity in patients with advanced stage than in controls.