Clinicopathological characteristics of the patients in the training and validation cohorts stratified by immune score
| All | Training cohort (n=221) | Validation cohort (n=115) | |||||
| Low | High | P value | Low | High | P value | ||
| Total population | 336 (100) | 68 (30.8) | 153 (69.2) | 49 (42.6) | 66 (57.4) | ||
| Age | 0.69 | 0.037 | |||||
| ≤45 years | 163 (48.5) | 34 (50.0) | 81 (52.9) | 15 (30.6) | 33 (50.0) | ||
| >45 years | 173 (51.5) | 34 (50.0) | 72 (47.1) | 34 (69.4) | 33 (50.0) | ||
| Sex | 0.76 | 0.12 | |||||
| Male | 254 (75.6) | 52 (76.5) | 114 (74.5) | 41 (83.7) | 47 (71.2) | ||
| Female | 82 (24.4) | 16 (23.5) | 39 (25.5) | 8 (16.3) | 19 (28.8) | ||
| WHO pathological type | 0.51 | 0.26 | |||||
| Ⅰ/Ⅱ | 8 (2.4) | 1 (1.5) | 4 (2.6) | 0 (0.0) | 3 (4.5) | ||
| Ⅲ | 328 (97.6) | 67 (98.5) | 149 (97.4) | 49 (100.0) | 63 (95.5) | ||
| T stage | 0.61 | 0.021 | |||||
| T1–T2 | 136 (40.5) | 22 (32.4) | 55 (35.9) | 19 (38.8) | 40 (60.6) | ||
| T3–T4 | 200 (59.5) | 46 (67.6) | 98 (64.1) | 30 (61.2) | 26 (39.4) | ||
| N stage | 0.59 | 0.61 | |||||
| N0–N1 | 200 (59.5) | 50 (73.5) | 107 (69.9) | 17 (34.7) | 26 (39.4) | ||
| N2–N3 | 136 (40.5) | 18 (26.5) | 46 (30.1) | 32 (65.3) | 40 (60.6) | ||
| TNM stage | 0.90 | 0.13 | |||||
| I–II | 87 (25.9) | 19 (27.9) | 44 (28.8) | 7 (14.3) | 17 (25.8) | ||
| III–IV | 249 (74.1) | 49 (72.1) | 109 (71.2) | 42 (85.7) | 49 (74.2) | ||
| Treatment | 0.56 | 0.35 | |||||
| RT alone | 31 (9.2) | 5 (7.4) | 15 (9.8) | 3 (6.1) | 8 (12.1) | ||
| RT +chemo | 305 (90.8) | 63 (92.6) | 138 (90.2) | 46 (93.9) | 58 (87.9) | ||
| EBV-DNA load (copy/mL) | 0.46 | NA | |||||
| ≤2000 | 122 (55.2) | 35 (51.5) | 87 (56.9) | NA | NA | ||
| >2000 | 99 (44.8) | 33 (48.5) | 66 (43.1) | NA | NA | ||
| Death | 0.001 | 0.004 | |||||
| Yes | 74 (22.0) | 21 (30.9) | 18 (11.8) | 22 (44.9) | 13 (19.7) | ||
| No | 262 (78.0) | 47 (69.1) | 135 (88.2) | 27 (55.1) | 53 (80.3) | ||
| Distant metastasis | 0.022 | 0.004 | |||||
| Yes | 56 (16.7) | 15 (22.1) | 16 (10.5) | 17 (34.7) | 8 (12.1) | ||
| No | 280 (83.3) | 53 (77.9) | 137 (89.5) | 32 (65.3) | 58 (87.9) | ||
| Locoregional failure | 0.28 | 0.044 | |||||
| Yes | 51 (15.2) | 9 (13.2) | 13 (8.5) | 17 (34.7) | 12 (18.2) | ||
| No | 285 (84.8) | 59 (86.8) | 140 (91.5) | 32 (65.3) | 54 (81.8) | ||
| Disease progression | 0.005 | <0.001 | |||||
| Yes | 94 (28.0) | 23 (33.8) | 26 (17.0) | 29 (59.2) | 16 (24.2) | ||
| No | 242 (72.0) | 45 (66.2) | 127 (83.0) | 20 (40.8) | 50 (75.8) | ||
Bold values were considered significant
EBV, Epstein-Barr virus; NA, not applicable; RT, radiotherapy; TNM, tumor-node-metastasis.