Table 1. Associations between POSTN mRNA levels and clinical parameters (N = 73).

Characteristic	No. of Patients		POSTN △CtaMean ± SD	Non-parametric test value	P value
	No.	%
Age, years
≥60	30	41.1	0.90 ± 1.84	Z = −0.285	0.797
<60	43	58.9	0.91 ± 1.97
Gender
Male	50	68.5	0.78 ± 1.92	Z = −0.796	0.426
Female	23	31.5	1.18 ± 1.89
Smoking history
Nonsmoker	38	52.1	0.72 ± 1.91	Z = −0.939	0.348
Smoker	35	47.9	1.10 ± 1.91
Alcohol history
Nondrinker	48	65.7	0.87 ± 1.89	Z = −0.337	0.736
Drinker	25	34.3	0.97 ± 1.98
T stage
T1	7	9.6	0.97 ± 1.61	H = 3.501	0.321
T2	29	39.7	0.54 ± 1.64
T3	18	24.7	1.56 ± 1.87
T4	19	26.0	0.82 ± 2.35
Metastasis (N stage)
pN+	33	45.2	1.42±1.74	Z = −2.361	0.018
pN-	40	54.8	0.48±1.95
TNM stage
I	7	9.6	1.12±1.54	H = 3.015	0.389
II	22	30.1	0.37±1.68
III	18	24.7	1.33±1.86
IV	26	35.6	0.99±2.18
Pathological differentiation
Well	32	43.8	1.28±1.74	Z = −1.857	0.063
Moderately/poorly	41	56.2	0.61±2.00
Disease Site
Tongue	34	46.6	1.34±2.06	H = 5.008	0.286
Gingival	9	12.3	0.36±1.89
Cheek	9	12.3	0.56±2.03
Floor of Mouth	14	19.2	0.23±1.52
Oropharynx	7	9.6	1.42±1.45
Recurrence
Yes	13	17.8	0.74±1.83	Z = −0.418	0.676
No	60	82.2	0.94±1.94

Abbreviations: POSTN, osteoblast-specific factor 2; SD, standard deviation; T, tumor stage; N, lymph node stage; TNM stage, tumor-node-metastasis stage.