Table 2.
Correlations between Tumor Parameters and SLPI, Elastase, and Plasmim
| SLPI (n = 24) |
Elastase (n = 17) |
Plasmin (n = 22) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| r+ | P++ | r+ | P++ | r+ | P++ | |
| Ordinal variables⁎ | ||||||
| Degree of keratinization | −0.242 | 0.260 | 0.499 | 0.048 | 0.316 | 0.166 |
| Nuclear polymorphism | −0.352 | 0.092 | −0.359 | 0.160 | −0.152 | 0.512 |
| Number of mitoses | −0.570 | 0.004 | 0.139 | 0.601 | −0.113 | 0.615 |
| Pattern of invasion | −0.417 | 0.044 | 0.234 | 0.367 | 0.065 | 0.765 |
| Stage of invasion | −0.470 | 0.019 | 0.481 | 0.049 | 0.090 | 0.732 |
| Lymphocytic infiltration | −0.309 | 0.142 | 0.009 | 0.975 | −0.459 | 0.035 |
| Continuous variables† | ||||||
| Composite grade (CG) | −0.657 | 0.0003 | 0.207 | 0.435 | −0.059 | 0.826 |
| Tumor thickness (TT) | 0.120 | 0.626 | 0.127 | 0.682 | 0.511 | 0.026 |
| Invasive cell grade (ICG) | −0.624 | 0.001 | 0.120 | 0.658 | −0.083 | 0.740 |
| Dichotomous variables‡ | ||||||
| T stage | −0.218 | 0.344 | 0.451 | 0.098 | −0.023 | 1.000 |
| DNM | 0.055 | 0.853 | 0.040 | 1.000 | 0.402 | 0.078 |
Bold indicates significance. r+, correlation coefficient, P++, exact P value, bold numbers, significant.
For ordinal variables, the association between SLPI, elastase, plasmin, and tumor parameters (degree of keratinization, nuclear polymorphism, number of mitoses, pattern of invasion, stage of invasion, and lymphocytic infiltration) was measured by Spearman correlation coefficient. Exact P values were estimated by Monte Carlo Simulation.
For continuous variables, the association between SLPI, elastase, plasmin, and tumor parameters (composite score, tumor thickness/depth of invasion, and invasive cell grade score) was measured by Pearson linear correlation coefficient. Exact P values were estimated by Monte Carlo Simulation.
For dichotomous variables, the association between proteins (SLPI, elastase, and plasmin) and tumor parameters [tumor stage (T stage) and delayed neck metastasis (DNM)] was measured by point biserial correlation.