Table 1. Correlation between PLK4 expression and clinicopathologic parameters in HCC.
| Variable | PLK4 protein | ||||
| All cases | Low expression | High expression | x2 | P valuea | |
| Age(years)b | 0.021 | 0.886 | |||
| <48 | 120 | 63 (52.5%) | 57 (47.5%) | ||
| ≥48 | 126 | 65 (51.6%) | 61 (48.4%) | ||
| Gender | 0.151 | 0.698 | |||
| Female | 27 | 15(55.6%) | 12(44.4%) | ||
| Male | 219 | 113(51.6%) | 106(48.4%) | ||
| HBsAg | 0.729 | 0.393 | |||
| Yes | 212 | 108(50.9%) | 104 (49.1%) | ||
| No | 34 | 20(58.8%) | 14 (41.2%) | ||
| AFP (ng/ml) | 5.544 | 0.019 | |||
| <20 | 104 | 45(43.3%) | 59 (56.7%) | ||
| ≥20 | 142 | 83 (58.5%) | 59 (41.5%) | ||
| Liver cirrhosis | 0.066 | 0.798 | |||
| Yes | 177 | 93 (52.5%) | 84(47.5%) | ||
| No | 69 | 35 (50.7%) | 34 (49.3%) | ||
| Tumor size (cm) | 4.603 | 0.032 | |||
| <5 | 118 | 53 (44.9%) | 65 (55.1%) | ||
| ≥5 | 128 | 75 (58.6%) | 53(41.4%) | ||
| Tumor multiplicity | 0.363 | 0.547 | |||
| Single | 130 | 70 (53.8%) | 60(46.2%) | ||
| Multiple | 116 | 58 (50.0%) | 58 (50.0%) | ||
| Differentiation | 5.216 | 0.157 | |||
| Well (I) | 32 | 21(65.6%) | 11 (34.4%) | ||
| Moderate (II) | 104 | 48 (46.2%) | 56 (53.8%) | ||
| Poor (III) | 95 | 53 (55.8%) | 42 (44.2%) | ||
| Undifferentiation (IV) | 15 | 6 (40.0%) | 9(60.0%) | ||
| Stage | 8.665 | 0.034 | |||
| I | 22 | 6 (27.3%) | 16 (72.7%) | ||
| II | 109 | 55 (50.5%) | 54 (49.5%) | ||
| III | 87 | 48 (55.2%) | 39 (44.8%) | ||
| IV | 28 | 19 (67.9%) | 9 (32.1%) | ||
| Vascular invasion | 0.661 | 0.416 | |||
| Yes | 140 | 76(54.3%) | 64(45.7%) | ||
| No | 106 | 52(49.1%) | 54 (50.9%) | ||
a
Chi-square test;
b
patients were divided according to the median age; AFP, alpha-fetoprotein; HBsAg, hepatitis B surface antigen; PLK4, polo-like kinase 4.