Table 2. Relationships between RSPO/LGR gene expression and gene expression levels of different pathways of carcinogenesis.

Genes	TNBC with high level of RSPO-LGR mRNA expression (n=44)	TNBC with low level of RSPO-LGR mRNA expression (n=24)	Pa
Stem cell pathway
CD133	1.1 (0.02–7.9)	0.2 (0.006–5.8)	0.0045
ALDHA1A3	0.6 (0.1–11)	0.4 (0.08–14.2)	0.37
ALDHA1A1	0.1 (0.02–0.7)	0.09 (0.1–0.6)	0.016
EMT pathway
CDH1	0.6 (0.01–3)	0.7 (0.047–5.4)	0.13
VIM	0.4 (0.15–2.1)	0.3 (0.02–0.8)	0.045
ZEB1	0.3 (0–1.2)	0.3 (0–0.8)	0.77
ZEB2	0.4 (0–1.9)	0.3 (0–0.9)	0.2
SNAIL	1.7 (0–8.2)	1.2 (0–13.1)	0.54
SNAIL2	0.6 (0–11.4)	0.5 (0–3.8)	0.054
TWIST1	0.4 (0.05–3.8)	0.2 (0.04–1)	0.0047
WNT/β-catenin pathway
AXIN2	0.35 (0.07–3.6)	0.2 (0.04–1.3)	0.048
DKK1	5.5 (0–786)	8.8 (2.6–358)	0.97
TCF4	0.8 (0–3.6)	0.6 (0–3)	0.082
LEF1	0.3 (0–1.8)	0.2 (0.02–0.6)	0.32
MMP7	3.5 (0–58)	0.8 (0.02–19)	0.024

Abbreviations: EMT=epithelial–mesenchymal transition; LGR=leucine-rich repeat containing G protein-coupled receptor; TNBC=triple-negtive breast cancer.

^aMann–Whitney test.