Fig. 5

Expression profiles of the somatostatin receptor (SST) subtypes SST1, SST2, SST3, SST4, and SST5 and the chemokine receptor CXCR4 and of the proliferation marker Ki-67 in whole-block thyroid cancer samples at the mRNA level, separated by the four tumour entities. A: Box plots of the expression levels (dCT values) as determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) of the SSTs and CXCR4. B: Box plots of the expression levels (dCT values) as determined by qRT-PCR of Ki-67. Median values, upper and lower quartiles, minimum and maximum values, and outliers are depicted. The outliers are defined as follows: circles: mild outliers, 1.5–3 times more extreme than the upper or lower quartiles; asterisks: extreme outliers, > 3 times as extreme as the upper or lower quartiles