TABLE 3.

Cox Regression Analysis to Assess Prognostic Significance of MUC4 Expression

Prognostic variables	Indicator of poor prognosis	Hazard ratio 95% (confidence intervals)	p-value
Overall
Expression of MUC4
MUC4 (low vs. high expression)	high expression	2.07 (1.14–3.75)	0.017
Tumor stage
I vs. II	II	1.34 (0.46–3.85)	0.582
I vs. III	III	4.95 (1.84–13.27)	0.001
I vs. IV	IV	14.15 (4.64–43.10)	< 0.0001
Tumor grade
high vs. low	high grade	1.47 (0.77–2.78)	0.243
Tumor location
proximal vs. distal colon	proximal colon	0.92 (0.64–1.31)	0.644
Tumor size
> 5 cm vs. ≤ 5 cm	> 5 cm	1.12 (0.63–1.97)	0.693
Tumor type
mucinous vs. non-mucinous	mucinous	1.37 (0.73–2.59)	0.321
Early stage (Stage I & II)
MUC4 (low vs. high expression)	high expression	3.77 (1.46–9.73)	0.006
Tumor grade (high vs. low)	high grade	2.91 (1.00–8.44)	0.049
Advanced stage (Stage III & IV)
MUC4(low vs. high expression)	high expression	1.74 (0.87–3.45)	0.113