Fig. 3

The stage-stratified survival curves of patients in the two groups. (a) In the stage-stratified subgroup analysis of patients at stage T1, the 5-year survival rates in group A and group B were 95.2% and 96.7%, respectively (P = 0.641). (b) For the patients at stages T2–T3, the 5-year survival rates in group A and group B were 76.8% and 91.7%, respectively (P = 0.066). (c) In the subgroup analysis of patients at stage T4, the 5-year survival rates in group A and group B were 58.5% and 76.9%, respectively (P = 0.004)