Table 3. Survival data of the morphometric variables with prognostic impact.
| Parameters and quartiles | P-value | Number of specific data/total data of the groupa | % Patient 18 SV±SD | % Patient 60 SV±SD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A) Total vascularisation: shape factor | 0.022 EFSb | |||
| ⩽Q1 (Q1=0.28, range 0.17–5.24) | 14/22 | 54.5±10.6 | 40.9±10.5 | |
| >Q1 | 48/52 | 36.5±6.7 | 9.6±4.1 | |
| B) Sinusoids: area | 0.014 EFS | |||
| ⩽Q2 (Q2=213.7 μm2, range 91–467) | 32/35 | 37.1±8.2 | 8.6±4.7 | |
| >Q2 | 26/35 | 57.1±8.4 | 31.4±7.8 | |
| C) Venules and arterioles: area | 0.011 OS | |||
| ⩽Q2 (Q2=877.8 μm2, range 250–3063) | 27/29 | 51.7±9.3 | 10.3±5.7 | |
| >Q2 | 20/27 | 70.4±8.8 | 37.0±9.3 | |
| D) Venules and arterioles: roundness | 0.016 OS | |||
| ⩽Q1 (Q1=7.2, range 2–15) | 10/15 | 86.78.8 | 46.712.9 | |
| >Q1 | 37/41 | 51.27.8 | 14.65.5 | |
| E) Ret Fs: SA | 0.001 EFS | |||
| ⩽Q2 (Q2=5.8%, range 0.23–39.4) | 29/41 | 52.4±7.7 | 38.1±7.5 | |
| >Q2 | 40/43 | 40.5±7.6 | 9.5±4.5 | |
| F) Ret Fs: width | 0.007 EFS | |||
| ⩽Q2 (Q2=8.5 μm, range 3.3–21.7) | 29/41 | 53.7±7.8 | 36.6±7.5 | |
| >Q2 | 40/43 | 39.5±7.5 | 11.6±4.9 | |
| G) Ret Fs: roundness | 0.002 EFS | |||
| ⩽Q2 (Q2=6.9, range 4.2–12.9) | 30/43 | 55.8±7.6 | 37.2±7.4 | |
| >Q2 | 39/41 | 36.6±7.5 | 9.8±4.6 | |
| H) Ret Fs: perimeter ratio | 0.032 EFS | |||
| ⩽Q2 (Q2=0.89, range 0.86–0.96) | 51/55 | 36.4±7.3 | 15.9±5.5 | |
| >Q2 | 28/29 | 57.5±7.8 | 32.5±7.4 | |
| I) Ret Fs: fractal dimension | 0.026 EFS | |||
| ⩽Q2 (Q2=1.17, range 1.09–1.25) | 51/55 | 50.9±6.7 | 32.7±6.3 | |
| >Q2 | 28/29 | 37.9±9.0 | 6.9±4.7 | |
| J) Ret Fs: branching | 0.003 EFS | |||
| ⩽Q2 (Q2=0.12, range 0.01–0.35) | 37/40 | 54.5±7.5 | 38.6±7.3 | |
| >Q2 | 32/44 | 37.5±7.7 | 7.5±4.2 | |
| K) Risk according to vascular/ECM: morphometric classifier | 0.000 | |||
| 0–1 morphometric variables | 15/26 | 69.2±9.1 | 53.8±9.8 | |
| 2–7 morphometric variables | 54/58 | 36.2±6.3 | 10.3±4.0 | |
| L) Risk according to clinical and biological factors | 0.000 | |||
| death ⩽18 months | 32/32 | 0.0±0.0 | 0.0±0.0 | |
| death >18 months | 37/52 | 80.8±5.5 | 38.5±6.7 |
Abbreviations: ECM=extracellular matrix; EFS=event-free survival; OS=overall survival; Ret Fs=reticulin fibres; SA=stained area; % patient 18 SV±SD=percentage of patients with ⩾18 months survival±s.d.; % patient 60 SV±SD=percentage of patients with ⩾60 months survival±s.d.
Number of specific data: number of patient samples with morphometric parameters over or under the Q1 or Q2 value/total number of patient samples with evaluable and positive staining.
Blood-vessel shape factor affected EFS but was omitted from the morphometric sorter since it included 75% of the samples in the ultra-high-risk group, and was not considered a discriminative variable.
A morphometric classifier is proposed discriminating ultra-high-risk patients who die within 24 months (row labelled K), combining the measurement data values over or under the corresponding quartile (Q) of at least two of the seven morphometric features identified by grey rows. The parameters affecting EFS with potential use for the pretreatment risk stratifications were included in the morphometric classifier. Some parameters affected OS but cannot be used to enhance the pretreatment risk stratification. They were therefore not used for the morphometric classifier. Quartiles: Q1: we dichotomized using the first quartile separating the 25% lowest samples, as the ultra-high-risk subgroup defined by clinical data was a minority within the high-risk cohort; Q2: the median was also used, as being the statistically most accurate value, to dichotomize the variables.