Table 1. TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway protein expression in relation to clinical pathological characteristics in Kazakh ESCC.

Clinicopathological features	N	TGF-β1			P	TGFβRII			P	p-Smad2/3			P
		−	+	++/+++		−	+	++/+++		−	+	++/+++
Normal	58	30	22	6	<0.001	9	38	11	0.056	24	20	14	<0.001
ESCC	100	8	28	64		29	28	43		15	27	58
Sex
Male	64	4	18	42	0.454	19	19	26	0.840	12	16	36	0.161
Female	36	4	10	22		10	9	17		3	11	22
Age (y)
<60	51	5	13	33	0.746	12	15	24	0.219	9	17	25	0.449
≥60	49	3	15	31		17	13	19		6	10	33
Tumor invasion
Superficial layer	57	5	15	37	0.999	15	14	28	0.496	7	16	34	0.381
Deep layer	43	3	13	27		14	14	15		8	11	24
LN metastases
Yes	54	4	13	37	0.999	16	14	24	0.880	9	13	35	0.799
No	46	4	15	27		13	14	19		6	14	23
Tumor differentiation
Well	26	3	11	12	0.033	5	5	16	0.202	5	11	10	0.034
Moderate-poor	74	5	17	52		24	23	27		10	16	48
Stage
I+II	75	8	19	48	0.195	24	21	30	0.252	12	22	41	0.755
III	25	0	9	16		5	7	13		3	5	17