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. 2023 Feb 12;15(4):1178. doi: 10.3390/cancers15041178

Table 2.

Univariate analysis of all variables analyzed as prediction factors for malignancy.

Variables Malignant Group (n = 115) Benign Group
(n = 67) 		Total (n = 182) Outcome Univariate Analysis
n (%) m n (%) m n (%) p Value OR 95% CI
Age
0–5 years 10 9 0 22 33 0 32 18 <0.001
6–12 years 37 32 15 22 52 29
13–18 years 68 59 30 45 98 55
Gender
Male 67 58 0 33 49 0 100 55 0.28 1.44 (0.79–2.64)
Female 48 42 34 51 82 45
Lymph nodes ultrasound
Pathological lymph nodes a 101 96 10 24 37 2 125 74 <0.001 43.14 (14.09–132.07)
No/uncertain pathological lymph nodes 4 4 41 63 45 27
Cervical levels involved in accordance with Robbins Classification [49]
Level I 15 14 11 11 18 6 26 16 0.51 0.75 (0.32–1.76)
Level II 60 57 46 75 106 64 0.02 0.43 (0.21–0.86)
Level III 62 58 23 38 85 51 0.01 2.33 (1.22–4.44)
Level IV 91 86 18 30 109 65 <0.001 14.49 (6.67–31.47)
Level V 68 64 15 25 83 50 <0.001 5.5 (2.71–11.11)
Level VI 24 23 3 5 27 16 0.002 5.66 (1.63–19.68)
Number of involved cervical levels
>3 levels involved 36 32 11 4 6 6 40 22 <0.001 7.27 (2.46–21.51)
Cervical involvement
Unilateral 36 34 11 43 67 3 79 47 <0.001 3.98 (2.06–7.69)
Bilateral 70 66 21 33 91 54
Size lymph nodes level I, II, III (short axis)
>15 mm 22 77 0 14 42 0 36 56 0.03 3.31 (1.18–9.37)
Size lymph nodes level IV, V, VI (short axis)
>10 mm 44 92 1 6 60 1 58 86 0.024 7.33 (1.44–37.22)
Size non-cervical lymph nodes (short axis)
>10 mm 10 83 2 2 50 0 12 75 0.52 5.00 (0.42–59.68)
Thorax abnormalities
Enlarged mediastinum 64 56 0 2 3 4 66 37 <0.001 38.28 (8.93–164.10)
Obstructed airway 32 28 1 2 33 19 <0.001 23.90 (3.18–179.72)
Trachea deviation 22 19 1 2 23 13 <0.001 14.67 (1.93–111.63)
V. cava superior syndrome 20 17 0 0 20 11 <0.001 0 NA
Enlarged liver and/or spleen
No abnormalities 71 62 1 47 90 15 118 71 <0.001 5.69 (2.10–15.43)
Abnormal 43 38 5 10 48 29
Body regions involved (presence of pathological lymph node or mass)
High cervical 108 94 0 64 96 0 172 95 0.75 0.72 (0.18–2.89)
Supraclavicular 97 84 19 28 116 64 <0.001 13.61 (6.55–28.29)
Infraclavicular 39 34 0 0 39 21 <0.001 0 NA
Axilla 39 34 8 12 47 26 0.001 3.79 (1.65–8.71)
Mediastinal 90 78 5 8 95 52 <0.001 44.64 (16.21–122.96)
Abdominal lymph nodes 40 35 9 13 49 27 0.002 3.44 (1.54–7.65)
Other locations 69 60 16 24 85 47 <0.001 4.78 (2.44–9.38)
Number of body regions involved
>3 involved 78 68 0 8 12 0 86 47 <0.001 15.55 (6.74–35.86)
Laboratory values
ESR > 16.5 mm/h b 77 72 8 28 43 2 105 61 <0.001 3.39 (1.77–6.48)
Hb < 8.15 g/dL c 82 71 0 39 58 0 121 67 0.08 1.78 (0.95–3.36)
Leukocytes > 8.35 (×103/mm3) c 73 64 0 31 46 0 104 57 0.03 2.02 (1.09–3.72)
Neutrophils > 6.0 (×103/mm3) b 58 51 1 9 14 1 67 37 <0.001 6.56 (2.97–14.49)
Lymphocytes < 2.6 (×103/mm3) b 87 81 7 33 52 1 120 70 <0.001 3.39 (1.96–7.71)
Monocytes > 0.62 (×103/mm3) b 74 68 6 27 44 5 101 59 <0.001 3.26 (1.70–6.26)
Thrombocytes > 307.5 (×103/mm3) b 87 77 1 32 49 1 119 66 <0.001 3.42 (1.79–6.54)
Uric acid > 0.225 mg/dL d 75 75 15 33 58 10 108 69 0.03 2.18 (1.09–4.37)
LD > 260.0 U/L b, f 19 79 7 29 47 5 48 56 0.01 3.68 (1.23–11.03)
CRP > 3.35 µg/mL e 78 82 20 20 36 11 98 65 <0.001 8.26 (3.87–17.62)
TARC > 850.0 pg/mL g 69 90 7 3 8 30 72 63 <0.001 97.75 (24.37–392.06)
Presence of B-symptoms
Presence of ≥1 B-symptoms 41 36 1 19 31 5 60 34 0.51 1.27 (0.66–2.46)
Weight loss 17 15 3 11 19 8 28 16 0.66 0.78 (0.34–1.79)
Night sweats 28 26 5 10 17 8 38 23 0.25 1.67 (0.74–3.74)
Fever 18 16 3 11 17 2 29 16 1.00 0.94 (0.41–2.14)

Abbreviations: ESR—erythrocyte sedimentation rate; Hb—hemoglobin; LD—lactate dehydrogenase; CRP—C-reactive protein; TARC—thymus and activation regulated chemokine; NA—not applicable; m—missing. a Ultrasound characteristics of pathological lymph nodes are diffuse hypo-echogenicity, absence of fatty hilum, round shaped and/or abnormal cluster of lymph nodes, and a resistance index (RI) above 0.8 [21,24,50]. The size of the lymph node that is considered pathological is dependent on the locations of the lymph node. Cervical lymph nodes in level two are considered pathological when the shortest diameter is larger than 15 mm. Cervical lymph nodes in other levels are considered pathological when the shortest diameter is larger than 10 mm. For non-cervical regions, the shortest diameter of greater than 10 mm was considered pathological [10,51]. We registered the lymph node as pathological when it was described as pathological by the radiologist based on the characteristics above. When the lymph node was described as doubtful pathological, we scored it as negative. b Conversion factor 1, c conversion factor 0.6206, d conversion factor 0.059, e conversion factor 10. f LD results are based on univariate analysis of NHL versus the benign group, since we concluded that LD is only a marker for NHL. g TARC results are based on univariate analysis of cHL versus benign group, since we concluded that TARC is only a marker for cHL. Outcomes in bold represent the variables that were included in the multivariate analysis.