Table 2. Univariate and multivariate analyses of associations with CRC with LN metastasis (logistic regression model).
| Cohort 1: protein analysisa | Univariate analysis | Multivariate analysis | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variables | OR | 95% CI | P value | OR | 95% CI | P value |
| Age (≥67 vs. <67 years) | 1.009 | 0.5708-1.7858 | 0.9750 | - | - | - |
| Gender (female vs. male) | 1.4765 | 0.8302-2.6343 | 0.1846 | - | - | - |
| Tumor size (≥41 vs. <41 mm) | 2.8722 | 1.6013-5.2229 | 0.0004b | 1.9018 | 0.9069-4.0139 | 0.0888 |
| T classification (T3,4 vs. T1,2) | 3.7754 | 1.9878-7.4742 | <0.0001 | 1.2865 | 0.5369-3.0795 | 0.5699 |
| Pathology (poor or mucinous vs. mod/well differentiated) | 4.1643 | 1.3640-15.4991 | 0.0115 | 1.4951 | 0.4417-5.9988 | 0.529 |
| Lymphatic invasion (present vs. absent) | 22.4481 | 7.7765-95.2478 | <0.0001 | 14.6851 | 4.7346-64.9051 | <0.0001 |
| Venous invasion (present vs. absent) | 3.696 | 2.0040-6.9515 | <0.0001 | 1.574 | 0.7425-3.3472 | 0.2359 |
| Ezrin expression (≥2 vs. <2)c | 2.1923 | 1.2191-4.0077 | 0.0085 | 2.3088 | 1.1513-4.7120 | 0.0183 |
| Cohort 2: mRNA analysisd | Univariate analysis | Multivariate analysis | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variables | OR | 95% CI | p-value | OR | 95% CI | p-value |
| Age (≥67 vs. <67 years) | 1.145 | 0.6091–2.1487 | 0.6722 | - | - | - |
| Sex (female vs. male) | 1.1907 | 0.6328–2.2359 | 0.5869 | - | - | - |
| Tumor size (≥45 vs. <45 mm) | 1.5547 | 0.8328–2.9218 | 0.166 | - | - | - |
| T classification (T3,4 vs. T1,2) | 4.9697 | 2.1795–12.8905 | <0.00001 | 3.0077 | 1.1436–8.9108 | 0.0249 |
| Pathology (poor or mucinous vs. mod/well differentiated) | 1.0668 | 0.3099–3.3512 | 0.9134 | - | - | - |
| Lymphatic invasion (present vs. absent) | 6.5852 | 1.8213–42.2762 | 0.0023 | 1.2427 | 0.1792–10.5130 | 0.8245 |
| Venous invasion (present vs. absent) | 6.5778 | 2.4450–22.9773 | <0.0001 | 3.2869 | 0.9108–16.3262 | 0.0706 |
| Ezrin expression (≥0.71 vs. <0.71)c | 2.2614 | 1.0179–5.0840 | 0.0451 | 2.5128 | 1.0573–6.1922 | 0.0369 |
aFor Cohort 1 protein analysis, the average patient age and tumor size was 66.7 years and 40.8 mm, respectively.
bStatistically significant associations are shown in bold (P < 0.05).
cThe cut-off values for high/low ezrin expression were 2.0 for protein and 0.71 for mRNA.
dFor Cohort 2 mRNA analysis, the average patient age and tumor size was 67.3 years and 44.6 mm, respectively.