Table III.

Association between BCL6, ZEB1 and ZEB2 mRNA expression and the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with breast cancer.

		BCL6 expression		ZEB1 expression		ZEB2 expression
Clinicopathological characteristic	Total no. of patients	n (%)	P-value	n (%)	P-value	n (%)	P-value
Age (years)
≤35	22	14 (63.6)	0.56	16 (72.7)	0.266	14 (63.6)	0.341
35–55	131	71 (54.2)		71 (54.2)		70 (53.4)
>55	75	38 (50.7)		42 (56.0)		35 (46.7)
Tumor size (cm)
≤2	19	5 (26.3)	0.02	5 (26.3)	0.007	4 (21.1)	0.016
2–5	164	89 (54.3)		93 (56.7)		89 (54.3)
>5	45	29 (64.4)		31 (68.9)		26 (57.8)
Lymph node metastasis
0	82	36 (43.9)	0.038	39 (47.6)	0.028	36 (43.9)	0.127
1–3	78	43 (55.1)		43 (55.1)		42 (53.8)
>3	68	44 (64.7)		47 (69.1)		41 (60.3)
Tumor grade
I	19	8 (42.1)	0.142	8 (42.1)	0.101	8 (42.1)	0.561
II	141	72 (51.1)		76 (53.9)		73 (51.8)
III	68	43 (63.2)		45 (66.2)		38 (55.9)
Tumor stage
I	9	1 (11.1)	0.001	0 (0)	0.001	1 (11.1)	0.002
II	110	50 (45.5)		53 (48.2)		50 (45.5)
III	98	65 (66.3)		68 (69.4)		59 (60.2)
IV	11	7 (63.6)		8 (72.7)		9 (81.8)
Estrogen receptor
−	136	73 (53.7)	0.921	80 (58.8)	0.406	78 (57.4)	0.058
+	92	50 (54.3)		49 (53.3)		41 (44.6)
Progesterone receptor
−	136	73 (53.7)	0.921	83 (61.0)	0.099	76 (55.9)	0.175
+	92	50 (54.3)		46 (50.0)		43 (46.7)
c-erbB-2
Low	148	75 (50.7)	0.178	79 (53.4)	0.185	69 (46.6)	0.022
High	80	48 (60.0)		50 (62.5)		50 (62.5)

BCL6, B-cell lymphoma 6; ZEB, zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox; c-erbB-2, erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2.