Retrospective analysis of predictive factors for pathological complete response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in gastric cancer

Table 1 Comparison of baseline characteristics between pathological complete response and non-pathological complete response groups, n (%)

Characteristics	pCR group (n = 41)	Non-pCR group (n = 174)	P value
Demographic characteristics
Age (years), median	61.3	60.8	0.742
Gender			0.796
Male	26 (63.4)	114 (65.5)
Female	15 (36.6)	60 (34.5)
BMI (kg/m2), mean	22.4	22.1	0.631
Tumor characteristics
Lauren classification			< 0.001
Intestinal	26 (63.4)	55 (31.6)
Diffuse	10 (24.4)	81 (46.6)
Mixed	5 (12.2)	38 (21.8)
Tumor location			0.218
Cardia	10 (24.4)	46 (26.4)
Body	12 (29.3)	57 (32.8)
Antrum	18 (43.9)	67 (38.5)
Diffuse	1 (2.4)	4 (2.3)
Clinical staging
Clinical T stage			0.022
cT3	22 (53.7)	60 (34.5)
cT4	19 (46.3)	114 (65.5)
Clinical N stage			0.038
cN1	20 (48.8)	54 (31.0)
cN2	14 (34.1)	70 (40.2)
cN3	7 (17.1)	50 (28.8)

BMI: Body mass index; pCR: Pathological complete response.

Table 2 Relationship between inflammatory indicators and pathological complete response in gastric cancer

Group	NLR	PLR	pCR rate (%)	P value	Clinical significance
Individual NLR analysis
Low NLR group	< 2.5	-	29.6	0.003	Significantly higher pCR
High NLR group	≥ 2.5	-	13.4	-	Lower pCR rate
Individual PLR analysis
Low PLR group	-	< 135	26.1	0.017	Significantly higher pCR
High PLR group	-	≥ 135	13.9	-	Lower pCR rate
Combined analysis
Optimal group	< 2.5	< 135	33.8	< 0.001	Highest pCR rate
Single low NLR	< 2.5	≥ 135	22.4	-	Intermediate pCR rate
Single low PLR	≥ 2.5	< 135	16.9	-	Intermediate pCR rate
Poor prognosis group	≥ 2.5	≥ 135	10.7	-	Lowest pCR rate

NLR: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; PLR: Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio; pCR: Pathological complete response.

Table 3 Influence of chemotherapy regimens and cycles on pathological complete response rates

Factor	Category	pCR rate (%)	P value
Chemotherapy regimen	Platinum compound type
	Oxaliplatin-containing (FLOT, SOX, XELOX)	22.3%	0.034
	Cisplatin-containing (DCF)	12.7%	-
	Specific regimen		0.023
	FLOT	27.5%
	SOX	18.2%
	XELOX	15.4%
	DCF	11.8%
Chemotherapy cycles	General comparison
	≥ 4 cycles	24.8%	0.006
	< 4 cycles	11.2%	-
	Detailed cycle ranges	-	N/A
	2-3 cycles	11.2%
	4-5 cycles	21.6%
	6 cycles	28.3%
	> 6 cycles	27.9%

FLOT: Fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, docetaxel; SOX: S-1, oxaliplatin; XELOX: Capecitabine, oxaliplatin; DCF: Docetaxel, cisplatin, fluorouracil; pCR: Pathological complete response; N/A: Not applicable.