Table I.

Correlation between STAT3, p-STAT3, HIF-1α, VM and clinicopathological parameters

	STAT3			p-STAT3			HIF-1α
Factors	Positive	Negative	P value	Positive	Negative	P value	Positive	Negative	P value
Group
Gastritis	3	17	<0.001	1	19	<0.001	2	18	<0.001
GAC	49	11		35	25		38	22
Gender
Male	37	9	0.958a	25	21	0.256	28	18	0.473
Female	12	2		10	4		10	4
Age at surgery, years
<60	19	8	0.087a	15	12	0.693	15	12	0.258
≥60	30	3		20	13		23	10
Tumor size, cm
<5	20	6	0.406	14	12	0.538	14	12	0.182
≥5	29	5		21	13		24	10
Status of lymph node metastasis
0	11	8	0.007b	4	15	<0.001	6	13	0.002
1–6	25	2		21	6		20	7
>6	13	1		10	14		12	2
Degree of differentiation
Poor	32	2	0.012a	25	9	0.006	24	10	0.182
Mid to well	17	9		10	16		14	12
TNM stage
I-II	21	5	0.875	15	11	0.930	13	13	0.061
III-IV	28	6		20	14		25	9
VM
Positive	19	0	0.032a	16	3	0.006	17	2	0.004
Negative	30	11		19	22		21	20

^aχ² test of continuous correction;

^bFisher's exact test.

STAT3, signal transducer and activator of transcription-3; p-STAT3, phosphor-STAT3; HIF-1α, hypoxia-inducible factor-1α; GAC, gastric adenocarcinoma; TNM, tumor-node-metastasis; VM, vasculogenic mimicry.