Fig. 3

Kaplan–Meier survival curves for 73 patients with upfront surgery stratified by SMAD4 status. a Recurrence-free survival. b Overall survival. Black solid line, cases without SMAD4 expression at any site (n = 6); black dashed line, cases with absent at the central lesion and present at the invasion front (n = 4); gray solid line, cases with present at the central lesion and absent at the invasion front (n = 13); and gray dashed line, cases with present at both sites (n = 50). c Recurrence-free survival and d Overall survival in dichotomous groups. Black solid line, cases without SMAD4 expression at any site (n = 6); black dashed line, the other cases (n = 67). e–h Patients were classified into three groups according to SMAD4 status at the central lesion and invasion front. SMAD4 score is 0 points in the absent group, 1 to 6 points in the low group, and 7 to 12 points in the high group. e Recurrence-free survival at the central lesion. f Overall survival at the central lesion. g Recurrence-free survival at the invasion front. h Overall survival at the invasion front