Tumor necrosis is associated with increased alphavbeta3integrin expression and poor prognosis in nodular cutaneous melanomas

Table 4 Multivariate survival analysis (Cox' proportional hazards method) for patients with vertical growth phase melanoma, using tumor related death as end-point

Variables	Categories	n	HR^a	95 % CI	p-value^b
Clark's level of invasion	II, III, IV	101	1
	V	26	2.5	1.3–4.7	0.007
Tumor necrosis	absent	86	1
	present	41	2.7	1.5–4.8	0.001
αv-integrin expression	low^c	37	1
	high	90	2.3	1.0–5.1	0.049
p16 expression	high^c	63	1
	low	64	2.5	1.4–4.5	0.003

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