Metastatic lymph nodes and prognosis assessed by the number of retrieved lymph nodes in gastric cancer

Table 6 Prognostic factors of patients with gastric cancer by univariate and multivariate analyses based on Cox regression analysis in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results validation cohort

Characteristics	Multivariate analysis, pT1		Multivariate analysis, pT2		Multivariate analysis, pT3		Multivariate analysis, pT4
	HR (95%CI)	P value	HR (95%CI)	P value	HR (95%CI)	P value	HR (95%CI)	P value
Sex		0.001		-		-		-
Male	1
Female	0.712 (0.596-0.851)
Age	1.044 (1.035-1.052)	< 0.001	1.032 (1.024-1.040)	< 0.001	1.018 (1.014-1.022)	< 0.001	1.018 (1.014-1.022)	< 0.001
Tumor location		< 0.001		< 0.001		-		0.007
Upper third	1		1				1
Middle third	0.491 (0.364-0.661)	< 0.001	0.671 (0.496-0.908)	0.010			0.883 (0.718-1.085)	0.235
Lower third	0.636 (0.534-0.758)	< 0.001	0.603 (0.501-0.726)	< 0.001			1.122 (0.963-1.308)	0.140
Tumor size (mm)		-		0.004		< 0.001		< 0.001
≤ 50			1		1		1
> 50			1.323 (1.091-1.604)		1.172 (1.079-1.274)		1.285 (1.157-1.427)
Histological type		-		-		-		-
Well-moderately differentiated
Poorly-undifferentiated
Signet ring cell
Others
MLNs	1.111 (1.088-1.135)	< 0.001	1.022 (1.013-1.030)	< 0.001	1.024 (1.021-1.027)	< 0.001	1.035 (1.030-1.039)	< 0.001
RLNs	0.978 (0.969-0.986)	< 0.001	0.981 (0.973-0.990)	< 0.001	0.986 (0.983-0.990)	< 0.001	0.973 (0.969-0.978)	< 0.001
Chemotherapy		-		0.002		-		-
Yes			1
No/unknown			1.323 (1.110-1.577)

-: Univariate analysis was not statistically significant; RLNs: Retrieved lymph nodes; MLNs: Metastatic lymph nodes; HR: Hazard ratio; CI: Confidence interval.