Table 5.
Correlations between serum soluble heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor and clinicopathological characteristics of each group
| Clinicopathological characteristics | Serum sHB-EGF | Serum CEA |
| γs (P value) | γs (P value) | |
| Age (yr)1 | -0.265 (0.001) | -0.087 (0.275) |
| Sex (male:female) | 0.138 (0.076) | -0.021 (0.792) |
| H. pylori infection (-/+) | -0.054 (0.486) | -0.114 (0.151) |
| Histology (well:mod:poorly:signet) | 0.214 (0.078) | 0.090 (0.465) |
| Tumor location (lower:middle:upper) | -0.052 (0.652) | -0.048 (0.691) |
| T-stage (T1a:T1b:T2:T3:T4) | 0.669 (< 0.001) | 0.201 (0.101) |
| N-stage (N0:N1:N2:N3) | 0.407 (0.001) | 0.073 (0.552) |
| Distant metastasis (M0:M1) | 0.261 (0.030) | 0.328 (0.006) |
| Overall stage (I:II:III:IV) | 0.570 (< 0.001) | 0.229 (0.060) |
| Size of tumor (< 3 cm; 3-5 cm and > 5 cm)2 | 0.237 (0.048) | 0.362 (0.002) |
This value is continuous variable. Thus, correlation is evaluated by Pearson’s correlation (γp).
Subjects were classified into three groups according to primary GC size: < 3 cm, 3-5 cm, and > 5 cm to analyze the relationship between serum HB-EGF levels and primary GC size. CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; H. pylori: Helicobacter pylori; Mod: Moderate-differentiated carcinoma; Poorly: Poorly-differentiated carcinoma; Signet: Signet ring cell carcinoma; sHB-EGF: Soluble heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor; Well: Well-differentiated carcinoma; γs: Spearman’s correlation coefficient. P < 0.05 (two-tailed) was considered statistically significant. Statistically significant values are given in bold print.