Table II.
Association between cancer-related factors and smoking status.
| Smoking status | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Factors | Never (n=54) | Former (n=46) | Current (n=34) | P-value |
| Proliferation index (mean/SD) | 20.1/10.5 | 21.2/10.3 | 22.7/11.7 | NS |
| Apoptotic index (mean/SD) | 1.5/0.7 | 1.6/0.8 | 1.7/0.9 | NS |
| Microvessel density (mean/SD) | 31.0/16.4 | 27.0/13.2 | 32.1/19.6 | NS |
| Lymphatic vessel density (mean/SD) | 34.4/10.6 | 39.6/10.8 | 40.9/12.9 | 0.034a |
| Intratumoral lymph vessels, n (%) | 0.010 | |||
| Absent | 51 (94.4) | 37 (80.4) | 24 (70.5) | |
| Present | 3 (5.6) | 9 (19.6) | 10 (29.5) | |
| VEGF-A expression, n (%) | 0.542 | |||
| Negative | 30 (55.6) | 22 (47.8) | 15 (44.1) | |
| Positive | 24 (44.4) | 24 (52.2) | 19 (55.9) | |
| VEGF-C expression, n (%) | 0.779 | |||
| Negative | 29 (53.7) | 22 (47.8) | 16 (47.1) | |
| Positive | 25 (46.3) | 24 (52.2) | 18 (52.9) | |
| VEGF-D expression, n (%) | 0.011 | |||
| Negative | 47 (47.0) | 33 (33.0) | 20 (20.0) | |
| Positive | 7 (20.6) | 13 (38.2) | 14 (41.2) | |
| COX-2 expression, n (%) | 0.032 | |||
| Negative | 34 (63.0) | 21 (45.7) | 12 (35.3) | |
| Positive | 20 (37.0) | 25 (54.3) | 22 (64.7) | |
| MMP-2 expression, n (%) | 0.359 | |||
| Negative | 33 (61.1) | 23 (50.0) | 16 (47.1) | |
| Positive | 21 (38.9) | 23 (50.0) | 18 (52.9) | |
| MMP-9 expression, n (%) | 0.032 | |||
| Negative | 35 (64.8) | 21 (45.7) | 13 (38.2) | |
| Positive | 19 (35.2) | 25 (54.3) | 21 (61.8) | |
| uPA expression, n (%) | 0.995 | |||
| Negative | 24 (44.4) | 20 (43.5) | 15 (44.1) | |
| Positive | 30 (55.6) | 26 (56.5) | 19 (55.9) | |
a
Never vs. current group. SD, standard deviation; NS, not significant; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor; COX, cyclooxygenase; MMP, matrix metalloproteinase; uPA, urokinase-type plasminogen activator.