TABLE 3.

Association of the IRG signature with clinical characteristics in CRC patients.

Variables	TCGA		P	GSE39582		P	GSE17538		P
	Low risk	High risk		Low risk	High risk		Low risk	High risk
Age (years)			0.3			0.46			0.58
Unknown				1
≤68	115	128		150	161		62	66
>68	128	116		138	129		51	45
Gender			0.06			0.96			0.78
Female	125	104		129	131		55	51
Male	118	140		160	159		58	60
Tumor stage			<0.001***			<0.001***			0.27
Unknown	3	9		3	1
Stage I	60	20		27	10		16	11
Stage II	112	81		152	117		40	30
Stage III	55	78		85	124		35	40
Stage IV	13	56		22	38		22	30
Pathologic T			<0.001***			<0.001***
Unknown		1		5	18
T1	9	2		7	5
T2	59	24		31	17
T3	157	177		198	178
T4	18	40		47	72
Pathologic N			<0.001***			<0.001***
Unknown				7	25
N0	177	114		184	127
N1	48	63		62	74
N2	18	67		36	64
Pathologic M			<0.001***			<0.001***
Unknown	26	37		3	19
M0	204	151		263	233
M1	13	56		23	38

The links between clinical factors and the IRG signature were investigated. The patients were divided into low- and high-risk groups according to median risk factor. Age and sex were verified via χ²-test, while tumors’ T, N, and M stages were checked by the rank-sum test. Tumor pathological state and disease stage were significantly correlated with the IRG signature. IRG, Immune-related gene; CRC, Colorectal Cancer. *** P < 0.001.