Table 3

Distribution of clinicopathological variables within groups of patients as revealed by hierarchical clustering


Clusters of patientsa




A
 B
 C




I
 II
 III
 IV
 V
Distribution
 Count
 27
 23
 24
 22
 9
Age
 Mean
 64.3
 58.3
 59.6
 55.7
 55.4
     p5 = 0.235, p3 = 0.212, N = 105
 Median
 64
 55
 60
 57
 49
Tumor type
 Lobular and mixed ductal/lobular
 12
 5
 5
 4
 1
     p5 = 0.040*, p3 = 0.021*, N = 105
 Ductal not otherwise specified
 15
 17
 16
 14
 4

Mucinous, papillary
 0
 0
 2
 2
 1

Medullary, spindle cell
 0
 1
 1
 2
 3
Lymph node metastases
 Absent
 10
 8
 6
 12
 5
     p5 = 0.240, p3 = 0.065, N = 105
 Present
 17
 15
 18
 10
 4
Maximal tumor diameter
 <20 mm (pT1)
 6
 11
 12
 13
 0
     p5 = 0.001*, p3 = 0.408, N = 105
 > 20 mm (pT2, pT3)
 21
 12
 12
 9
 9
Tumor grade
 Grade 1
 8
 5
 7
 7
 2
     p5 = 0.138, p3 = 0.199, N = 105
 Grade 2
 14
 7
 10
 5
 1

Grade 3
 5
 11
 7
 10
 6
Nuclear grade
 Grade 1
 6
 2
 2
 6
 2
     p5 < 0.001**, p3 < 0.001**, N = 105
 Grade 2
 17
 15
 20
 9
 0

Grade 3
 4
 6
 2
 7
 7
Estrogen receptor alpha
 Positive
 25
 18
 24
 15
 3
     p5 < 0.001**, p3 < 0.001**, N = 105
 Negative
 2
 5
 0
 7
 6
Estrogen receptor beta
 Positive
 20
 11
 13
 8
 3
     p5 = 0.078, p3 = 0.030*, N = 99
 Negative
 7
 8
 10
 13
 6
Progesterone receptor
 Positive
 23
 16
 24
 14
 4
     p5 < 0.001**, p3 < 0.001**, N = 105
 Negative
 4
 7
 0
 8
 5
HER2 amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization
 Absent
 25
 16
 22
 19
 9
     p5 = 0.071, p3 = 0.398, N = 105
 Present
 2
 7
 2
 3
 0
HER2/neu by immunohistochemistry
 3+
 2
 5
 2
 3
 0
     p5 = 0.008*, p3 = 0. 046*, N = 105
 2+
 0
 3
 3
 2
 0

1+
 10
 10
 7
 2
 1

0
 15
 5
 12
 15
 8
Cytokeratin 5/6 or cytokeratin 14
 Positive
 2
 3
 0
 4
 3
     p5 = 0.035*, p3 = 0.010*, N = 99
 Negative
 24
 18
 23
 16
 6
Triple-negative phenotype
 Yes
 0
 1
 0
 5
 6
     p5 < 0.001**, p3 < 0.001**, N = 105
 No
 27
 22
 24
 17
 3
Cyclin D1 amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization
 Absent
 22
 21
 18
 17
 9
     p5 = 0.354, p3 = 0.875, N = 102
 Present
 5
 2
 4
 4
 0
Cyclin D1 by immunohistochemistry
 Positive
 26
 17
 21
 18
 4
     p5 = 0.001**, p3 = 0.111, N = 101
 Negative
 0
 5
 2
 3
 5
Mucin 1
 2+
 17
 12
 21
 9
 1
     p5 = 0.001**, p3 < 0.001**, N = 102
 1+
 9
 10
 2
 7
 7

0
 1
 0
 0
 5
 1
Gross cystic fluid protein
 Positive
 10
 10
 13
 9
 2
     p5 = 0.572, p3 = 0.440, N = 98
 Negative
 15
 13
 10
 10
 6

p5 values, results of statistical testing within five groups of patients and are rather informative because of the small number of patients in each group; p3 values, result of statistical testing within three groups of patients. *P values significant at the 5% significance level. **P values significant at a significance level adjusted by Bonferroni correction (0.05/17 = 0.0029). For some parameters evaluated in tissue microarrays, information was not available in all patients. aA to C, three clusters; I to V, five clusters.

Brozkova et al. Breast Cancer Research 2008 10:R48   doi:10.1186/bcr2101

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