Table 3. Correlation between pathological characteristics and cancer-related molecules.

	COX-2	VEGF-A	HO-1
Entire; r / P value
Tumor volume	0.32 / 0.025	0.39 / 0.005	0.52 / < 0.001
Microvessel density	0.60 / < 0.001	0.68 < 0.001	0.67 / < 0.001
Proliferation index	0.57 / < 0.001	0.46 / < 0.001	0.68 / < 0.001
Invasive cancer
Tumor volume	0.20 / 0.928	0.17 / 0.430	0.35 / 0.093
Microvessel density	0.32 / 0.102	0.47 / 0.020	0.50 / 0.014
Proliferation index	0.43 / 0.038	0.15 / 0.491	0.49 / 0.015

COX; cyclooxygenase, VEGF; vascular endothelial growth factor

HO; hemeoxygenase.