Frequent loss of endothelin-3 (EDN3) expression due to epigenetic inactivation in human breast cancer

Breast Cancer Research

Table 5 Clinicopathological factors in relation to disease-free and breast cancer-specific survival

	Disease-free survival			Breast cancer-specific survival
	Number^a	Events	P value^b	Number^a	Events	P value^b
Variables
Clinicopathological factors
Age at diagnosis
≤ 59 years	83	28	0.163	83	19	0.005^c
> 59 years	63	25		67	29
Tumour size^d
pT1	47	11	0.007^c	48	9	0.013^c
pT2 to pT4	97	42		100	39
Lymph node status^d
pN0	67	9	< 0.001^c	67	10	< 0.001^c
pN1 to pN3	76	41		80	35
Histological grade
G1 and G2	81	23	0.008^c	83	19	0.002^c
G3	64	30		66	29
Histological type
Ductal	120	46	0.376	122	40	0.474
Lobular	11	4		12	5
Other	15	3		16	3
Tumour focality
Unifocal	127	44	0.158	130	39	0.082
Multifocal	18	9		19	9
Oestrogen receptor
Negative (IRS^e ≤ 2)	38	16	0.351	38	16	0.101
Positive (IRS > 2)	79	25		83	22
Progesterone receptor
Negative (IRS^e ≤ 2)	81	32	0.214	85	32	0.056
Positive (IRS > 2)	40	11		40	8
Her2 status
Negative (IHC: 0; 1+)	101	38	0.840	105	33	0.445
Positive (IHC: 2+; 3+)	23	9		23	9
EDN3 expression
Low (IRS^e < 8)	67	28	0.167	68	28	0.022^c
High (IRS ≥ 8)	79	25		82	20

^aOnly female patients with primary invasive breast cancer were included. ^bLog-rank test. ^cSignificant data. ^dAccording to the UICC (Union Internationale contre le Cancer): TNM Classification of Malignant Tumours [19].^eImmunoreactivity score (IRS) according to Remmele and Stegner [24]. EDN3, endothelin-3; IHC, immunohistochemistry.

ISSN: 1465-542X