Fig. 2

Results of the three-protein signature analysis. a, b depict the sensitivity of the three-protein signature in different cancer stages and subtypes, respectively. The sensitivity of the three-protein signature showed no statistical differences across AJCC stages and molecular subtypes (p = 0.859 and p = 0.902, respectively). c The concentration of each protein in all participants. APOC1 and CA1 levels were statistically different between 313 patients with breast cancer (Cancer group) and 329 participants (Non-cancer group) with no suspicious breast lesions (Normal group) or biopsy-proven benign breast lesions (Benign group), whereas CHL1 did not show such a difference. Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to compare differences between two groups because the concentration of each protein was not normally distributed. d Depict the concentrations of the three markers in three participants’ group. APOC1 were significantly different between Normal group, Benign group, and Cancer group. While CA1 levels of Cancer group were higher than those of Normal group and Benign group, CA1 did not show significant difference between Normal group and Benign group. p-values calculated using Dunn’s nonparametric comparison for post hoc Kruskal–Wallis testing. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 and ns non-significant