Table I.
Correlations between the IGFBP-3 expression levels in tumor tissue samples and the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
| IGFBP-3 protein | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | Number of cases | Low expression (%) | High expression (%) | P-value |
| Age, years | 0.436 | |||
| ≥50b | 63 | 31 (49.2)) | 32 (50.8 | |
| <50b | 57 | 24 (42.1) | 33 (57.9) | |
| Gender | 0.677 | |||
| Male | 103 | 48 (46.6) | 55 (53.4) | |
| Female | 17 | 7 (41.1) | 10 (58.9) | |
| AFP, ng/ml | 0.291 | |||
| ≤20 | 42 | 20 (47.6) | 22 (52.4) | |
| >20 | 78 | 35 (44.9) | 43 (54.1) | |
| Liver cirrhosis | 0.369 | |||
| Yes | 75 | 32 (42.7) | 43 (57.3) | |
| No | 45 | 23 (51.1) | 22 (48.9) | |
| Tumor size, cm | 0.003a | |||
| ≥5 | 52 | 32 (61.5) | 20 (39.5) | |
| <5 | 68 | 23 (33.8) | 45 (66.2) | |
| Tumor multiplicity | 0.044a | |||
| Single | 78 | 41 (52.6) | 37 (47.4) | |
| Multiple | 42 | 14 (33.3) | 28 (66.7) | |
| N status | 0.008a | |||
| N0 | 33 | 21 (63.6) | 12 (36.4) | |
| N1 | 87 | 32 (36.8) | 55 (63.2) | |
| M status | 0.001a | |||
| M0 | 57 | 35 (61.4) | 22 (38.6) | |
| M1 | 63 | 20 (31.7) | 43 (68.3) | |
| Clinical stage | 0.001a | |||
| I | 13 | 10 (76.9) | 3 (23.1) | |
| II | 47 | 28 (65.9) | 19 (34.1) | |
| III | 39 | 10 (51.5) | 29 (48.5) | |
| IV | 21 | 7 (33.3) | 14 (66.7) | |
| Survival status | 0.015a | |||
| Alive | 31 | 20 (64.5) | 11 (35.5) | |
| Succumbed | 89 | 35 (39.3) | 54 (61.7) | |
a
P<0.05 was considered to indicate a statistically significant difference (χ2 test).
b
Median age=50 years. IGFBP-3, insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3; AFP, α-fetoprotein; N, node; M, metastasis.