Table 1.
Characteristics of patients with and without axillary lymph node metastasis
| Total cohort (n = 219) | Primary cohort (n = 153) | Validation cohort (n = 66) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | Non-ALN metastasis (n = 110) | ALN metastasis (n = 109) |
P | Non-ALN metastasis (n = 77) | ALN metastasis (n = 76) |
P | Non-ALN metastasis (n = 33) | ALN metastasis (n = 33) |
P |
| Age (years) | 51.85 ± 10.68 | 49.91 ± 11.13 | 0.191a | 52.04 ± 10.71 | 51.13 ± 11.87 | 0.620a | 51.39 ± 10.78 | 47.10 ± 8.74 | 0.080a |
| Maximum diameter (cm) | 2.74 ± 1.03 | 3.63 ± 1.59 | < 0.001a | 2.73 ± 1.04 | 3.53 ± 1.54 | < 0.001a | 2.78 ± 1.01 | 3.87 ± 1.70 | 0.003a |
| Minimum diameter (cm) | 1.80 ± 0.63 | 2.30 ± 1.02 | < 0.001a | 1.80 ± 0.63 | 2.28 ± 1.05 | 0.001a | 1.81 ± 0.65 | 2.33 ± 0.99 | 0.014a |
| Effective diameter (cm) | 2.27 ± 0.78 | 2.97 ± 1.22 | < 0.001a | 2.26 ± 0.79 | 2.91 ± 1.20 | < 0.001a | 2.30 ± 0.77 | 3.10 ± 1.27 | 0.003a |
| Perineural invasion | 0.542b | 0.479b | 1.000b | ||||||
| Negative | 105(95.45%) | 102(93.58%) | 74(96.10%) | 70(92.11%) | 31(93.94%) | 32(96.97%) | |||
| Positive | 5(4.55%) | 7(6.42%) | 3(3.90%) | 6(7.89%) | 2(6.06%) | 1(3.03%) | |||
| LVI | 0.014b | 0.034b | 0.202b | ||||||
| Negative | 93(84.55%) | 77(70.64%) | 64(83.12%) | 52(68.42%) | 29(87.88%) | 25(75.76%) | |||
| Positive | 17(15.45%) | 32(29.36%) | 13(16.88%) | 24(31.58%) | 4(12.12%) | 8(24.24%) | |||
| ER | 0.959b | 0.542b | 0.306b | ||||||
| Negative | 40(36.36%) | 40(36.70%) | 30(38.96%) | 26(34.21%) | 10(30.30%) | 14(42.42%) | |||
| Positive | 70(63.64%) | 69(63.30%) | 47(61.04%) | 50(65.79%) | 23(69.70%) | 19(57.58%) | |||
| PR | 0.453b | 0.939b | 0.138b | ||||||
| Negative | 56(50.91%) | 61(55.96%) | 41(53.25%) | 40(52.63%) | 15(45.45%) | 21(63.64%) | |||
| Positive | 54(49.09%) | 48(44.04%) | 36(46.75%) | 36(47.37%) | 18(54.55%) | 12(36.36%) | |||
| HER-2 | 0.848b | 0.764b | 0.438b | ||||||
| Negative | 76(69.09%) | 74(67.89%) | 53(68.83%) | 54(71.05%) | 23(69.70%) | 20(60.61%) | |||
| Positive | 34(30.91%) | 35(32.11%) | 24(31.17%) | 22(28.95%) | 10(30.30%) | 13(39.39%) | |||
| Ki-67 | 0.038b | 0.117b | 0.159b | ||||||
| < 20% | 37(33.64%) | 23(21.10%) | 26(33.77%) | 17(22.37%) | 11(33.33%) | 6(18.18%) | |||
| ≥ 20% | 73(66.36%) | 86(78.90%) | 51(66.23%) | 59(77.63%) | 22(66.67%) | 27(81.82%) | |||
| T stage | < 0.001c | < 0.001c | 0.028c | ||||||
| T1 | 49(44.55%) | 21(19.27%) | 35(45.45%) | 14(18.42%) | 14(42.42%) | 7(21.21%) | |||
| T2 | 58(52.73%) | 70(64.22%) | 41(53.25%) | 51(67.11%) | 17(51.52%) | 19(57.58%) | |||
| T3 | 1(0.91%) | 11(10.09%) | 0(0.00%) | 5(6.58%) | 1(3.03%) | 6(18.18%) | |||
| T4 | 2(1.82%) | 7(6.42%) | 1(1.30%) | 6(7.89%) | 1(3.03%) | 1(3.03%) | |||
| M stage | 0.671b | 0.239b | 1.000b | ||||||
| M0 | 108(98.18%) | 105(96.33%) | 77(100.00%) | 73(96.05%) | 31(93.94%) | 32(96.97%) | |||
| M1 | 2(1.82%) | 4(3.67%) | 0(0.00%) | 3(3.95%) | 2(6.06%) | 1(3.03%) | |||
| AJCC stage | 0.241c | 0.615c | 0.165c | ||||||
| I | 22(20.00%) | 12(11.01%) | 15(19.48%) | 10(13.16%) | 7(21.21%) | 2(6.06%) | |||
| II | 46(41.82%) | 47(43.12%) | 32(41.56%) | 33(43.42%) | 14(42.42%) | 14(42.42%) | |||
| III | 18(16.36%) | 30(27.52%) | 12(15.58%) | 19(25.00%) | 6(18.18%) | 11(33.33%) | |||
| IV | 24(21.82%) | 20(18.35%) | 18(23.38%) | 14(18.42%) | 6(18.18%) | 6(18.18%) | |||
| MRI parameters | |||||||||
| Ktrans (min−1) | 0.22 ± 0.12 | 0.19 ± 0.12 | 0.058a | 0.22 ± 0.11 | 0.19 ± 0.11 | 0.047a | 0.21 ± 0.14 | 0.20 ± 0.14 | 0.598a |
| Kep (min−1) | 0.82 ± 0.25 | 0.86 ± 0.22 | 0.269a | 0.84 ± 0.24 | 0.85 ± 0.23 | 0.756a | 0.79 ± 0.29 | 0.88 ± 0.20 | 0.144a |
| Ve | 0.27 ± 0.13 | 0.22 ± 0.12 | 0.006a | 0.27 ± 0.12 | 0.22 ± 0.11 | 0.022a | 0.29 ± 0.15 | 0.23 ± 0.15 | 0.115a |
| W-in (min−1) | 0.57 ± 0.21 | 0.60 ± 0.27 | 0.368a | 0.56 ± 0.19 | 0.59 ± 0.27 | 0.365a | 0.59 ± 0.26 | 0.61 ± 0.28 | 0.775a |
| W-out (min−1) | -0.01 ± 0.02 | -0.02 ± 0.02 | 0.002a | -0.01 ± 0.02 | -0.02 ± 0.02 | 0.009a | -0.01 ± 0.02 | -0.02 ± 0.02 | 0.081a |
| TTP (min) | 0.67 ± 0.19 | 0.67 ± 0.20 | 0.983a | 0.67 ± 0.19 | 0.68 ± 0.20 | 0.803a | 0.67 ± 0.21 | 0.65 ± 0.21 | 0.698a |
| ADC (× 10 −3 mm2/s) | 0.87 ± 0.15 | 0.84 ± 0.13 | 0.158a | 0.87 ± 0.14 | 0.84 ± 0.15 | 0.239a | 0.86 ± 0.17 | 0.83 ± 0.09 | 0.447a |
Notes. Pa: Student’s t test, Pb: chi-squared test, Pc: Kruskal–Wallis H test
Abbreviations: ALN Axillary lymph node, LVI Lymphovascular invasion, ER Estrogen receptor, PR Progesterone receptor, HER-2 Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2, ADC Apparent diffusion coefficient