Table 2. Expression levels (quantities) for each housekeeping gene relative to the standard curve and relative quantities for each marker gene relative to the standard curve and corrected for the input of cDNA based on the GAPDH control in arbitrary units (au).
| Housekeeping gene | Tissue | Median quantity | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| GAPDH | ALNneg | 0.30000 | 0.01800–1.85000 |
| ALNpos | 0.15500 | 0.00002–1.90000 | |
| β-Actin | ALNneg | 0.76250 | 0.09800–2.75000 |
| ALNpos | 0.28000 | 0.00001–1.35000 | |
| Marker gene | Tissue | Median relative quantity | Range |
| CK19 | ALNneg | 0.00001 | 0.000003–0.000103 |
| ALNpos | 0.04931 | 0.00022–8.23529 | |
| p1B | ALNneg | 0.01778 | 0.00009–0.23583 |
| ALNpos | 0.13400 | 0.00017–55.5556 | |
| EGP2 | ALNneg | 0.00035 | 0.00009–0.00270 |
| ALNpos | 0.07300 | 0.00112–0.69109 | |
| SBEM | ALNneg | 0.00047 | 0.00011–0.02112 |
| ALNpos | 0.07800 | 0.00073–84.7619 | |
| PS2 | ALNneg | 0.00001 | 0.00000–0.00026 |
| ALNpos | 0.01319 | 0.00000–10.0457 | |
| Mammaglobin | ALNneg | 0.000001 | 0.00000–0.00003 |
| ALNpos | 0.00014 | 0.00001–1.16994 | |
| EGFR | ALNneg | 3.06956 | 0.80620–10.1852 |
| ALNpos | 1.45317 | 0.05461–58.2897 |
ALNneg=tumour cell free control axillary lymph nodes; ALNpos=axillary lymph nodes harbouring breast tumour cells.