Table 4.
Aberrant methylation and clinicopathological features.
| Clinical features | All Cases (n = 34) | Aberrant Methylation(+) (n = 26, Figure 7B) | Aberrant Methylation(−) (n = 8, Figure 7B) | P-values |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEX | ||||
| Male/female | 11/23 | 10/16 | 1/7 | 0.17 (Fisher) |
| AGE (YEAR) | ||||
| Mean ± SE | 56.0 ± 2.7 | 57.2 ± 3.1 | 52.4 ± 4.9 | 0.45 (t-test) |
| TUMOR SIZE (mm) | ||||
| Mean ± SE | 26.2 ± 2.6 | 28.3 ± 3.3 | 20.1 ± 2.0 | 0.06 (t-test) |
| NUMBER OF LYMPH NODES WITH METASTASIS | ||||
| Mean ± SE | 2.6 ± 0.7 | 2.2 ± 0.6 | 3.3 ± 1.6 | 0.53 (t-test) |
| DISTANT METASTASIS | ||||
| (+)/(−) | 0/34 | 0/26 | 0/8 | 1 (Fisher) |
| RECURRENCE | ||||
| (+)/(−) | 5/28 | 3/22 | 2/6 | 0.37 (Fisher) |
| Unknown | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| THYROGLOBULIN (ng/ml) | ||||
| Mean ± SE | 104.6 ± 52.1 | 129.3 ± 68.6 | 30.5 ± 9.3 | 0.08 (t-test) |
| MUTATION OF BRAF/RAS ONCOGENES | ||||
| (+)/(−) | 26/7 | 22/3 | 4/4 | 0.04* (Fisher) |
| Unknown | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
SE, standard error. P-values were calculated to compare methylation(+) group and methylation(−) groups and to analyze the correlation of methylation status to clinicopathological features. Fisher, calculated by Fisher's exact test. t-test, calculated by t-test.
*
P < 0.05, which is considered as statistically significant. Mutations of BRAF/RAS oncogenes are thus considered to correlate significantly with methylation(+) groups.