Table 1 Demographic and cancer characteristics (a) of our study population and (b) comparison between patients with and without CAT at baseline

Age, years, mean (SD)

57.7 (13.7)

58.1 (13.3)

50.1 (18.9)

0.05

Sex

 Male

125 (50.0)

119 (95.2)

6 (4.8)

1.00^a

 Female

125 (50.0)

119 (95.2)

6 (4.8)

Ethnic

 Malay

138 (55.2)

128 (92.8)

10 (7.2)

0.07^b

0.347^c

 Chinese

83 (33.2)

81 (97.6)

2 (2.4)

 Indian

24 (9.6)

24 (100)

0 (0)

 Others

5 (2.0)

5 (100)

0 (0)

Smoking status

 Non-smoker

159 (63.6)

152 (95.6)

7 (4.4)

0.70^a

 Smoker

91 (36.4)

86 (94.5)

5 (5.5)

Performance status, ECOG

 < 2

216 (86.4)

208 (96.3)

8 (3.7)

0.041

 ≥ 2

34 (13.6)

30 (88.2)

4 (11.8)

BMI, kg/m², mean (SD)

24.7 (6.5)

24.5 (5.9)

28.8 (14.1)

0.030

 <18.5

25 (10.0)

24 (96.0)

1 (4.0)

0.46^d

 18.5–22.9

89 (35.6)

84 (94.4)

5 (5.6)

 23–27.4

75 (30.0)

73 (97.3)

2 (2.7)

 ≥ 27.5

61 (24.4)

57 (93.4)

4 (6.6)

Comorbidity

 Diabetes mellitus

82 (32.8)

80 (97.6)

2 (2.4)

0.35^f

 Hypertension

111 (44.4)

108 (97.3)

3 (2.7)

0.17^a

 Cardiovascular

16 (6.4)

16 (100)

0 (60

1.00^f

Histology

 Adenocarcinoma

112 (44.8)

107 (95.5)

5 (4.5)

0.823^g

 Squamous cell

35 (14.0)

34 (97.1)

1 (2.9)

 Others

103 (41.2)

97 (94.1)

6 (5.9)

Staging

 1

23 (9.2)

22 (95.7)

1 (4.3)

 2

38 (15.2)

37 (97.4)

1 (2.6)

 3

78 (31.2)

76 (97.4)

2 (2.6)

 4

111 (44.4)

103 (92.8)

8 (7.2)

0.112^h

Recent COVID-19 infection

55

52 (94.5%)

3 (5.5%)

0.73^f

Haemoglobin, g/dL, mean (SD)

11.7 (1.9)

11.7 (1.9)

11.5 (1.9)

0.738

WBC, x10⁹/L, mean (SD)

9.1 (4.5)

9.1 (4.6)

9.6 (3.5)

0.746

Platelet, x10⁹/L, mean (SD)

329 (112)

327 (109)

379 (161)

0.114

Albumin, g/dL, mean (SD)

33.3 (6.0)

33.4 (6.0)

31.6 (5.5)

0.297