Prognostic value of preoperative enhanced computed tomography as a quantitative imaging biomarker in pancreatic cancer

Table 7 Correlation between tumour relative enhancement ratio and clinicopathological characteristics

Variable	TRER ≤ 0.7, No. of patients, n (%)	TRER > 0.7, No. of patients, n (%)	P value	Coefficient of correlation
Tumour location			0.117	0.192
Head/uncinate	26 (59.1)	18 (78.3)
Body/tail	18 (40.9)	5 (21.7)
CA19-9			0.230	0.147
< 37 ng/mL	11 (25.0)	9 (39.1)
≥ 37 ng/mL	33 (75.0)	14 (60.9)
AJCC stage (2017)1			0.003	-0.353
I	4 (9.1)	7 (30.4)
II	16 (36.4)	11 (47.8)
III	24 (54.5)	5 (21.7)
T stage			0.005	0.343
T1/2	13 (29.5)	15 (65.2)
T3/4	31 (70.5)	8 (34.8)
N stage1			0.046	-0.245
N0	12 (27.3)	11 (47.8)
N1	15 (34.1)	8 (34.8)
N2	17 (38.6)	4 (17.4)
Lymph node metastasis			0.138	0.181
Negative	13 (29.5)	11 (47.8)
Positive	31 (70.5)	12 (52.2)
Vascular invasion			0.071	0.258
No	30 (68.2)	21 (91.3)
Yes	14 (31.8)	2 (8.7)
Tumour differentiation			0.634	0.058
Highly/moderately	33 (75.0)	16 (69.6)
Poorly/undifferentiated	11 (25.0)	7 (30.4)

¹Spearman rank correlation was used, and Spearman correlation coefficient was calculated. The other variables were tested by chi-square test, and Cramer’s V correlation coefficient was calculated.

CA19-9: Carbohydrate antigen 19-9; AJCC: American Joint Committee on Cancer; TRER: Tumour relative enhancement ratio.