Table 1. Association between HMGB1 expression and clinicopathologic characteristics of melanomas.
| Variable | HMGB1 staining | p value* | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | High | Total | ||
| Age, years** | 0.69 | |||
| ≤ 59 | 27(51.9%) | 25(48.1%) | 52 | |
| > 59 | 24(48.0%) | 26(52.0%) | 50 | |
| Sex | 0.42 | |||
| Male | 28(46.7%) | 32(53.3%) | 60 | |
| Female | 23(54.8%) | 19(45.2%) | 42 | |
| Tumor thickness, mm | 0.012 | |||
| ≤ 2.0 | 23(67.6%) | 11(32.4%) | 34 | |
| >2.0 | 28(41.2%) | 40(58.8%) | 68 | |
| Ulceration | 0.29 | |||
| Present | 32(46.4%) | 37(53.6%) | 69 | |
| Absent | 19(57.6%) | 14(42.4%) | 33 | |
| American Joint Committee on Cancer stage | <0.0001 | |||
| I | 12(92.3%) | 1(7.7%) | 13 | |
| II | 28(82.4%) | 6(17.6%) | 34 | |
| III | 6(18.7%) | 26(81.3%) | 32 | |
| IV | 3(21.4%) | 11(78.6%) | 14 | |
| Tumor subtype | 0.75 | |||
| Superficial spreading melanoma | 21(46.7%) | 24(53.3%) | 45 | |
| Lentigo maligna melanoma | 3(75.0%) | 1(25.0%) | 4 | |
| Acrolentigous melanoma | 11(55.0%) | 9(45.0%) | 20 | |
| Nodular melanoma | 8(61.5%) | 5(38.5%) | 13 | |
| Unspecified | 6(54.5%) | 5(45.5%) | 11 | |
| Mitotic index | <0.0001 | |||
| ≤0.75 | 44(72.1%) | 17(27.9%) | 61 | |
| >0.75 | 7(17.1%) | 34(82.9%) | 41 | |
| Tumor location | 0.505 | |||
| Sun-exposed (head and neck) | 4(40.0%) | 6(60.0%) | 10 | |
| Sun-protected (others) | 47(51.1%) | 45(48.9%) | 92 | |
| Lymph node metastasis | <0.0001 | |||
| Present | 9(19.6%) | 37(80.4%) | 46 | |
| Absent | 40(85.1%) | 7(14.9%) | 47 | |
| Distant metastasis | 0.011 | |||
| Present | 3(21.4%) | 11(78.6%) | 14 | |
| Absent | 46(58.2%) | 33(41.8%) | 79 | |
*
Analysis by χ2 test or Fisher's exact test;
**
For the 102 melanoma cases, the median age of the whole group of patients was 59 years (range, 17–89 years).