Stromal secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine expression: A potential target for improved prognosis in patients with pancreatic cancer

Table 1 General characteristics of the patients, n (%)/mean ± SD

Variables, n = 91		Frequency
Age (years)		63.7 ± 9.3
Gender	Male/female	51 (56)/40 (44)
Tumor location	Head/body + tail	57 (62.3)/34 (37.4)
Radiologic tumor size (cm)		2.75 ± 1.30
Preoperative CA19-9		509.0 ± 1565.7
Operation	PPPD/DPS/TP	58 (63.7)/31 (34.1)/2 (2.2)
Tumor differentiation	Well/moderate/poor	14 (15.4)/66 (72.5)/11 (12.1)
LVI	Yes/no	29 (31.9)/62 (68.1)
PNI	Yes/no	67 (73.6)/24 (26.4)
pT stage1	T1/T2/T3	29 (31.9)/55 (60.4)/7 (7.7)
pN stage	N0/N1/N2	39 (42.9)/40 (44.0)/12 (13.2)
Retrieved LN number		19.4 ± 10.0
Metastatic LN number		1.4 ± 2.0
Adjuvant therapy	Yes/no	73 (80.2)/18 (19.8)

¹Tumor stage was assessed according to the tumor-node-metastasis classification, the American Joint Committee on Cancer 8^th edition.

CA19-9: Carbohydrate antigen 19-9; LVI: Lymphovascular invasion; PNI: Perineural invasion; LN: Lymph node; PPPD: Pancreaticoduodenectomy, preserving the pancreatic head; DPS: Disease progression score; TP: Total protein.

Table 2 Adjuvant chemotherapy regimen, n (%)

Variables	Frequency (n = 73)
Gemcitabine	56 (76.9)
Fluorouracil	3 (4.1)
Tegafur-uracil	3 (4.1)
Fluorouracil-cisplatin	4 (5.4)
Fluorouracil-leucovorin	2 (2.7)
Fluorouracil-epirubicin-cisplatin	3 (4.1)
Follow up loss	2 (2.7)

Table 3 Clinic-pathological characteristics according to secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine expression, n (%)/mean ± SD

	Variables	SPARC stroma (+) (n = 41)	SPARC stroma (-) (n = 50)	P value
Age (years)		64.4 ± 9.0	63.1 ± 9.7	0.236
Gender	Male/female	22 (53.7)/19 (46.3)	29 (58.0)/21 (42.0)	0.832
Tumor location	Head/body + tail	23 (56.1)/18 (43.9)	34 (68.0)/16 (32.0)	0.281
Radiologic tumor size (cm)		2.82 ± 1.61	2.69 ± 0.98	0.639
Preoperative CA19-9		293.3 ± 512.0	685.8 ± 2053.7	0.236
Operation	PPPD/DPS/TP	23 (56.1)/17 (41.5)/1 (2.4)	35 (70.0)/14 (28.0)/1 (2.0)	0.491
Tumor differentiation	Well/moderate/poor	9 (22.0)/29 (70.7)/3(7.3)	5 (10.0)/37 (74.0)/8 (16.0)	0.198
LVI	Yes/no	11 (26.8)/30 (73.2)	18 (36.0)/32 (64.0)	0.376
PNI	Yes/no	30 (73.2)/11 (26.8)	37 (74.0)/13 (26.0)	> 0.999
pT stage	T1/T2/T3	15 (36.6)/22 (53.7)/4 (9.8)	25 (28.0)/33 (66.0)/3 (6.0)	0.477
pN stage	N0/N1/N2	16 (39.0)/20 (48.8)/5 (12.2)	23 (46.0)/20 (40.0)/7 (14.0)	0.768
Retrieved LN number		19.3 ± 10.4	19.4 ± 9.8	0.986
Metastatic LN number		1.4 ± 2.3	1.4 ± 1.7	0.934
Adjuvant therapy	Yes/no	33 (80.5)/8 (19.5)	40 (80.0)/10 (20.0)	> 0.999

SPARC: Secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine; CA19-9: Carbohydrate antigen 19-9; LVI: Lymphovascular invasion; PNI: Perineural invasion; LN: Lymph node; PPPD: Pancreaticoduodenectomy, preserving the pancreatic head; DPS: Disease progression score; TP: Total protein.

Table 4 Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis of factors affecting overall survival

Variables (n = 91)	Univariate		Multivariate
	HR (95%CI)	P value	HR (95%CI)	P value
Location	0.985 (0.533-1.818)	0.961
Tumor size
≤ 3.0	1.00
> 3.0	1.644 (0.854-3.163)	0.137
N status		0.040		0.007
N0	1.00		1.0
N1	2.388 (1.217-4.689)	0.011	3.137 (1.527-6.444)	0.002
N2	1.691 (0.598-4.783)	0.322	1.761 (0.609-5.088)	0.296
CA19-9
≤ 35	1.00
> 35	1.228 (0.618-2.441)	0.554
Cell differentiation		0.250
Well	1.0
Moderately	0.553 (0.268-1.138)	0.108
Poorly	0.734 (0.250-2.153)	0.573
Lymphovascular invasion	1.009 (0.516-1.972)	0.978
Perineural invasion	0.806 (0.413-1.573)	0.528
Adjuvant therapy			1.0
None	1.0
Done	0.236 (0.123-0.452)	< 0.001	0.151 (0.074-0.306)	< 0.001
SPARC			1.0
Stroma (-)	1.0
Stroma (+)	2.335 (1.255-4.345)	0.007	2.726 (1.441-5.158)	0.002
SPARC adjuvant therapy			1.367 (0.749-2.497)	0.309

SPARC: Secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine; CA19-9: Carbohydrate antigen 19-9; HR: Hazard ratio; CI: Confidence interval.