Table 5

Correlation between clinicopathological variables and survival-univariate analysis




RFS
OS




Variables

No. of Pt
HR* (95% CI)
p-value
HR* (95% CI)
p-value

Age
<50
102
1
0.317
1
0.283

≥50
43
1.476 (0.688–3.166)

1.831 (0.606–5.533)

Performance
ECOG 0–1
139
1
0.686
1
0.888

ECOG 2
6
1.349 (0.316–5.756)

1.160 (0.148–9.073)

Initial clinical stage
IIA, IIB, IIIA
93
1
0.017
1
0.010

IIIB, IIIC
52
2.370 (1.116–4.815)

4.764 (1.462–15.525)

pCR
No
134
1
0.817
NA#
NA#

Yes
11
1.186 (0.281–5.005)



Pathologic stage
pCR~IIIA
113
1
0.288
1
0.086

IIIB, IIIC
32
1.525 (0.700–3.319)

2.608 (0.874–7.786)

Pathologic N stage
N0
42
1
0.636
1
0.566

N1–3
103
0.828 (0.378–1.812)

1.558 (0.342–7.099)

Radiologic response
Responder
100
1
0.515
1
0.683

Non-responder
45
0.776 (0.361–1.665)

1.258 (0.419–3.775)

Nuclear grade
I, II
41
1
0.151
1
0.141

III
87
1.894 (0.792–4.532)

2.689 (0.722–10.023)

Histologic grade
I, II
39
1
0.020
1
0.132

III
82
4.159 (1.248–13.865)

4.820 (0.621–32.387)

ER
Positive
64
1
0.001
1
0.028

Negative
81
5.410 (2.073–14.119)

9.921 (1.289–76.349)

PR
Positive
44
1
0.005
1
0.166

Negative
101
7.778 (1.851–32.673)

4.278 (0.547–33.476)

bcl-2
Positive
63
1
0.034
1
0.046

Negative
74
2.351 (1.068–5.175)

4.705 (1.030–21.490)

Ki-67
Low expression
56
1
0.038
1
0.082

High expression
85
2.357 (1.050–5.287)

3.263 (0.861–12.363)

p53
Low expression
67
1
0.869
1
0.670

High expression
76
1.063 (0.515–2.193)

1.281 (0.410–3.998)

c-erbB2
0/+/++
107
1
0.242
1
0.678

+++
38
1.555 (0.742–3.255)

1.273 (0.408–3.973)

Triple negative
No
98
1
0.002
1
0.029

Yes
47
3.148 (1.539–6.441)

3.430 (1.133–10.378)


RFS, relapse free survival; OS, overall survival; HR, hazard ratio; CI, confidence interval.

*Hazard ratio was calculated by Cox's proportional hazard model. If the hazard ratio is greater than 1, the hazard ratio can be thought of as the average increased risk of relapse or dying at any point in time compared with the reference group (described upper line).

#NA: Not available due to all censored in pCR.

Keam et al. BMC Cancer 2007 7:203   doi:10.1186/1471-2407-7-203