Baseline characteristics according to the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and body mass index at diagnosis
| Characteristics | All patients (n = 2,542) | Neithera (n = 1,664) | Only NLR ≥ 3 (n = 529) | Only BMI < 18.5 (n = 251) | Bothb (n = 98) | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | < 0.001 | |||||
| ≥ 65 | 696 (27%) | 408 (25%) | 166 (31%) | 84 (34%) | 38 (39%) | |
| 55 to < 65 | 930 (37%) | 603 (36%) | 200 (38%) | 94 (38%) | 33 (34%) | |
| < 55 | 916 (36%) | 653 (39%) | 163 (31%) | 73 (29%) | 27 (28%) | |
| Gender | < 0.001 | |||||
| Male | 1962 (77%) | 1313 (79%) | 421 (80%) | 165 (66%) | 63 (64%) | |
| Female | 580 (23%) | 351 (21%) | 108 (20%) | 86 (34%) | 35 (36%) | |
| CCS, mean (SD) | 0.16 (0.44) | 0.15 (0.42) | 0.22 (0.52) | 0.13 (0.40) | 0.14 (0.41) | 0.012 |
| Smoke | 0.006 | |||||
| No | 1633 (64%) | 1036 (62%) | 348 (66%) | 184 (73%) | 65 (66%) | |
| Yes | 909 (36%) | 628 (38%) | 181 (34%) | 67 (27%) | 33 (34%) | |
| Alcohol | 0.220 | |||||
| No | 2228 (88%) | 1448 (87%) | 463 (88%) | 230 (92%) | 87 (89%) | |
| Yes | 314 (12%) | 216 (13%) | 66 (13%) | 21 (8%) | 11 (11%) | |
| Family history of gastric cancer | 0.685 | |||||
| No | 2383 (94%) | 1557 (94%) | 494 (93%) | 238 (95%) | 94 (96%) | |
| Yes | 159 (6%) | 107 (6%) | 35 (7%) | 13 (5%) | 4 (4%) | |
| Primary tumor location | 0.002 | |||||
| Proximal | 776 (31%) | 505 (30%) | 192 (36%) | 60 (24%) | 19 (19%) | |
| Body | 610 (24%) | 395 (24%) | 126 (24%) | 64 (26%) | 25 (26%) | |
| Antrum | 1156 (46%) | 764 (46%) | 211 (40%) | 127 (51%) | 54 (55%) | |
| Type of gastrectomy | < 0.001 | |||||
| Proximal | 262 (10%) | 185 (11%) | 53 (10%) | 19 (8%) | 5 (5%) | |
| Total | 1190 (47%) | 744 (45%) | 291 (55%) | 109 (43%) | 46 (47%) | |
| Distal | 1090 (43%) | 735 (44%) | 185 (35%) | 123 (49%) | 47 (48%) | |
| Pathologic TNM stagec | < 0.001 | |||||
| Stage I | 660 (26%) | 476 (29%) | 107 (20%) | 66 (26%) | 11 (11%) | |
| Stage II | 651 (26%) | 429 (26%) | 136 (26%) | 56 (22%) | 30 (31%) | |
| Stage III | 1231 (48%) | 759 (46%) | 286 (54%) | 129 (51%) | 57 (58%) | |
| T stage | < 0.001 | |||||
| T1 | 494 (19%) | 365 (22%) | 80 (15%) | 42 (17%) | 7 (7%) | |
| T2 | 396 (16%) | 270 (16%) | 67 (13%) | 45 (18%) | 14 (14%) | |
| T3 | 467 (18%) | 299 (18%) | 112 (21%) | 33 (13%) | 23 (24%) | |
| T4 | 1185 (47%) | 730 (44%) | 270 (51%) | 131 (52%) | 54 (55%) | |
| N stage | 0.012 | |||||
| N0 | 981 (39%) | 670 (40%) | 184 (35%) | 101 (40%) | 26 (27%) | |
| N1 | 472 (19%) | 315 (19%) | 99 (19%) | 39 (16%) | 19 (19%) | |
| N2 | 450 (18%) | 297 (18%) | 94 (18%) | 43 (17%) | 16 (16%) | |
| N3 | 639 (25%) | 382 (23%) | 152 (29%) | 68 (27%) | 37 (38%) | |
| No. of lymph nodes dissected | 0.014 | |||||
| ≥16 | 2152 (85%) | 1383 (83%) | 458 (87%) | 221 (88%) | 90 (92%) | |
| <16 | 390 (15%) | 281 (17%) | 71 (13%) | 30 (12%) | 8 (8%) | |
| Histopathological differentiation | 0.153 | |||||
| High/middle | 989 (39%) | 666 (40%) | 199 (38%) | 92 (37%) | 32 (33%) | |
| Poor | 1443 (57%) | 934 (56%) | 305 (58%) | 141 (56%) | 63 (64%) | |
| Signet ring cell or Mucinous | 110 (4%) | 64 (4%) | 25 (5%) | 18 (7%) | 3 (3%) | |
| Serum albumin (g/l) | < 0.001 | |||||
| ≥40 | 1878 (74%) | 1293 (78%) | 376 (71%) | 157 (63%) | 52 (53%) | |
| <40 | 664 (26%) | 371 (22%) | 153 (29%) | 94 (38%) | 46 (47%) | |
| Anaemia | < 0.001 | |||||
| No | 1883 (74%) | 1321 (79%) | 335 (63%) | 174 (69%) | 53 (54%) | |
| Yes | 659 (26%) | 343 (21%) | 194 (37%) | 77 (31%) | 45 (46%) | |
| Surgical complicationsd | 0.913 | |||||
| No | 2090 (82%) | 1369 (82%) | 437 (83%) | 206 (82%) | 78 (80%) | |
| Yes | 452 (18%) | 295 (18%) | 92 (17%) | 45 (18%) | 20 (20%) | |
| 30-day mortality | 0.076 | |||||
| No | 2521 (99.2%) | 1654 (99.4%) | 521 (98.5%) | 250 (99.6%) | 96 (98.0%) | |
| Yes | 21 (0.8%) | 10 (0.6%) | 8 (1.5%) | 1 (0.4%) | 2 (2.0%) | |
| Treatment arm | 0.193 | |||||
| Surgery only | 853 (34%) | 554 (33%) | 169 (32%) | 99 (39%) | 31 (32%) | |
| Surgery + chemotherapy | 1689 (66%) | 1110 (67%) | 360 (68%) | 152 (61%) | 67 (68%) |
aIndicating NLR < 3 and BMI ≥ 18.5 kg/m2; bIndicating NLR ≥ 3 and underweight (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2); c8th UICC staging system; dDefined as grade II or higher using the Clavien-Dindo classification. NLR, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; BMI, body mass index; CCS, Charlson comorbidity score; SD, standard deviation; TNM, tumor-node-metastasis; T stage, tumor stage; N stage, node stage.