title: Log-normal censored regression model detecting prognostic factors in gastric cancer: a study of 3018 cases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the efficiency of Cox proportional hazard model in detecting prognostic factors for gastric cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used the log-normal regression model to evaluate prognostic factors in gastric cancer and compared it with the Cox model. Three thousand and eighteen gastric cancer patients who received a gastrectomy between 1980 and 2004 were retrospectively evaluated. Clinic-pathological factors were included in a log-normal model as well as Cox model. The akaike information criterion (AIC) was employed to compare the efficiency of both models. Univariate analysis indicated that age at diagnosis, past history, cancer location, distant metastasis status, surgical curative degree, combined other organ resection, Borrmann type, Lauren's classification, pT stage, total dissected nodes and pN stage were prognostic factors in both log-normal and Cox models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the final multivariate model, age at diagnosis, past history, surgical curative degree, Borrmann type, Lauren's classification, pT stage, and pN stage were significant prognostic factors in both log-normal and Cox models. However, cancer location, distant metastasis status, and histology types were found to be significant prognostic factors in log-normal results alone. According to AIC, the log-normal model performed better than the Cox proportional hazard model (AIC value: 2534.72 vs 1693.56).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is suggested that the log-normal regression model can be a useful statistical model to evaluate prognostic factors instead of the Cox proportional hazard model.
authors: Department of Breast Surgery, General surgery, the First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China.
authors: Bin-Bin
authors: BB
authors: Wang
authors: Cai-Gang
authors: CG
authors: Liu
authors: Ping
authors: P
authors: Lu
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Latengbaolide
authors: Yang
authors: Y
authors: Lu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D015996:Survival Rate; D055815:Young Adult