Table 3 Clinicopathological characteristics of the low PNI group and the high PNI group

 Male, n (%)

187 (59.1%)

100 (57.5%)

87 (61.3%)

0.495

 Age (years), median (IQR)

71 (63–76)

72.5 (66–79)

68 (62–74)

0.002

 BMI, median (IQR)

22.1 (20.0–24.8)

22.0 (19.2–24.0)

22.8 (21.0–25.2)

0.048

 Lymphocytes (/ul), median (IQR)

1560 (1190-1931)

1328 (1058-1625)

1894 (1508-2332)

<.0001

 Neutrophils (/ul), median (IQR)

3652 (2834-4908)

3692 (2781-5027)

3634 (2920-4474)

0.759

 Monocytes (/ul), median (IQR)

342 (277–440)

342 (270–436)

342 (281–442)

0.669

 Platelet count (104/uL), median (IQR)

19.9 (15.4–24.5)

19.9 (14.5–25.4)

20.1 (16.8–23.6)

0.827

 Total Bilirubin (mg/dl), median (IQR)

0.7 (0.5–0.9)

0.7 (0.50–0.90)

0.7 (0.54–0.90)

0.698

 Albumin (mg/dl), median (IQR)

4.1 (3.8–4.4)

3.8 (3.5–4.1)

4.3 (4.3–4.6)

<0.001

 AST (U/L), median (IQR)

29 (22–39)

29 (22–42)

29 (23–37)

0.978

 ALT (U/L), median (IQR)

25 (16–39)

24 (15–39)

27 (18–38)

0.142

 Prothrombin time (INR), median (IQR)

1.03 (0.97–1.10)

1.04 (1.0–1.13)

1.01 (0.95–1.07)

<.0001

 Total Cholesterol (mg/dL), median (IQR)

185 (166–211)

180 (156–206)

194 (173–220)

0.015

 HBV-Ag, n (%)

18 (5.7%)

11 (6.3%)

7 (4.9%)

0.595

 HCV-Ab, n (%)

47 (14.9%)

29 (16.7%)

18 (12.7%)

0.321

 CRP (mg/dl), median (IQR)

0.2 (0.09–0.70)

0.3 (0.10–1.04)

0.16 (0.08–0.34)

0.010

 Preoperative chemotherapy, n (%)

7 (2.2%)

6 (3.5%)

1 (0.7%)

0.099

  Mass-forming (MF)

234 (74.5%)

123 (71.1%)

111 (78.7%)

0.260

  Periductal-infiltrating (PI)

30 (9.6%)

16 (9.3%)

14 (9.9%)

  MF+PI

34 (10.8%)

23 (13.3%)

11 (7.8%)

  Intraductal Growth

16 (5.1%)

11 (6.3%)

5 (3.6%)

Tumor size (cm), median (IQR)

4.0 (2.8–6.5)

4.5 (3.0–7.0)

4.0 (2.5–6.0)

0.253

Multi-nodular, n (%)

63 (19.9%)

35 (20.1%)

28 (19.7%)

0.930

  Hilar

111 (35.1%)

72 (41.4%)

39 (27.5%)

0.010

  Peripheral

205 (64.9%)

102 (58.6%)

103 (72.5%)

CEA (ng/ml), median (IQR)

2.90 (1.80–5.87)

3.1 (2.0–7.2)

2.8 (1.6–4.7)

0.323

CA19–9 (U/ml), median (IQR)

39.4 (14.3–246.9)

52.1 (15.8–356.2)

26.3 (14.1–127.9)

0.024

 Major hepatectomy, n (%)

222 (70.3%)

128 (73.5%)

94 (66.2%)

0.154

  Segmentectomy/Sub-segmentectomy

82 (25.9%)

39 (22.4%)

43 (30.3%)

0.196

  Hemihepatectomy

221 (69.9%)

126 (72.4%)

95 (66.9%)

  Trisectionectomy

13 (4.1%)

9 (5.2%)

4 (2.82%)

Lymphnode dissection, n (%)

218 (68.9%)

117 (67.2%)

101 (71.1%)

0.458

Bile duct resection, n (%)

82 (25.9%)

53 (30.4%)

29 (20.4%)

0.043

Vascular reconstruction**, n (%)

24 (7.5%)

16 (9.2%)

8 (5.6%)

0.235

Blood loss (ml), median (IQR)

670 (350–1208)

780 (380–1190)

640 (304–1250)

0.499

Operation time (min), median (IQR)

348 (270–448)

354 (271–465)

333 (264–420)

0.228

 Serosa invasion, n (%)

112 (35.4%)

58 (33.3%)

54 (38.0%)

0.386

 Vascular invasion, n(%)

160 (50.6%)

87 (50.0%)

73 (51.4%)

0.947

 Lymph node metastasis, n(%)

86 (27.2%)

47 (27.0%)

39 (27.5%)

0.528

 Differentiation, n (%)

0.221

  Well

66 (20.9%)

37 (21.3%)

29 (20.4%)

  Moderate

167 (52.9%)

84 (48.3%)

83 (58.4%)

  Poorly

58 (18.4%)

36 (20.7%)

22 (15.5%)

  Un-classified

25 (7.9%)

17 (8.7%)

8 (5.6%)

 Background liver, n (%)

0.302

  Normal

234 (74.0%)

123 (70.7%)

111 (78.2%)

  Hepatitis

60 (19.0%)

38 (21.8%)

22 (15.5%)

  Fibrosis

22 (7.0%)

13 (7.5%)

9 (6.3%)

 Clavien-Dindo classification, n (%)

0.019

  none

205 (64.9%)

103 (59.2%)

102 (71.8%)

  Grade I-II

45 (14.2%)

24 (13.8%)

21 (14.8%)

  Grade III-IV

58 (18.4%)

40 (23.0%)

18 (12.7%)

  Grade V

8 (2.5%)

7 (4.0%)

1 (0.7%)

All Complication. CD-Grade I-V

111 (35.1%)

71 (40.8%)

40 (28.2%)

0.019

All Complication. CD-Grade III-V

66 (20.9%)

47 (27.0%)

19 (13.4%)

0.003

Infectious Complication. CD-Grade I-V

31 (9.8%)

26 (14.9%)

5 (3.5%)

0.002

Infectious Complication. CD-Grade IIII-V

19 (6.0%)

17 (36.2%) ***

2 (10.5%) ***

0.037

Adjuvant chemotherapy, n (%)

122 (38.6%)

57 (32.7%)

65 (45.7%)

0.018