Table 2.

Correlation Analysis Using Kendall’s Tau and Spearman’s Rank Correlation Test

Method	Variable		Intratumoral mast cells	Peritumoral mast cells
Kendall’s tau	Presence of metastasis*	Correlation coefficient (N)	−0.157§	NC
			289	277
Spearman’s rank test	Tumor stage	Correlation coefficient (N)	−0.147§	NC
			362	352
	GS	Correlation coefficient (N)	−0.113‡	0.152§
			369	358
	Density of bv in the nonmalignant tissue†	Correlation coefficient (N)	−0.217§	NC
			148	145
	Tumor cell proliferation	Correlation coefficient (N)	−0.177§	NC
			363	343

(N) equals number of patients analyzed. Note the protective role of intratumoral mast cells and the lack of, or even protumor role of, peritumoral mast cells. NC indicates not correlated. 

^*According to bone scan at the time of diagnosis. 

^†No correlation between mast cells and intratumoral blood vessels (bv, data not shown). 

^‡P < 0.05, 

^§P < 0.01.