Figure 5

Univariate Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of breast cancer patients in relation to WIF1 and DKK3 promoter methylation. (A) Overall survival and (B) disease-free survival are not associated with WIF1 promoter methylation in human breast cancer. Solid lines indicate methylated WIF1 promoter; dotted lines indicate unmethylated WIF1 promoter in the tumor. (C) In contrast, methylation of the DKK3 promoter in tumor tissue (solid line) is significantly associated with adverse patient overall survival, whereas patients with an unmethylated DKK3 promoter in the tumor tissue have a very favorable clinical outcome (dotted line) (p < 0.001). (D) In addition, DKK3-methylated tumors reveal a significant shorter time to recurrence (solid line), as compared to tumors harboring an unmethylated DKK3 promoter (dotted line) (p = 0.037). Vertical tick marks represent censored patients.