Soluble POSTN is a novel biomarker complementing CA153 and CEA for breast cancer diagnosis and metastasis prediction

Table 1 Correlation of serum POSTN levels and clinicopathological characteristics of participants

Characteristics	Number (%)	POSTN(ng/mL) Mean ± SD	P value
Health controls
Age (median)	52.1
> 60	24 (34.8)	11.18 ± 5.51
≤ 60	45 (65.2)	12.29 ± 11.83	0.30^a
Menopausal status
Yes	43 (62.3)	11.79 ± 9.48
No	26 (37.7)	11.21 ± 5.64	0.63^a
Family history
Yes	2 (2.9)	11.57 ± 8.31
No	67 (97.1)	11.34 ± 3.65	-
Body mass index (BMI)
< 24	42 (60.9)	11.31 ± 9.62
≥ 24	27 (39.1)	11.97 ± 5.44	0.18^a
Breast cancer
Age (median)	50.6
> 60	50 (28.9)	25.91 ± 16.52
≤ 60	123 (71.1)	31.18 ± 39.83	0.39^a
Menopausal status
Yes	109 (63.0)	29.27 ± 30.35
No	64 (37.0)	30.31 ± 41.47	0.11^a
Family history
Yes	12 (6.9)	25.30 ± 11.50
No	161 (93.1)	29.98 ± 35.90	0.42^a
Body mass index (BMI)
< 24	109 (63.0)	23.04 ± 20.88
≥ 24	64 (37.0)	40.93 ± 48.44	0.017^a
TNM stage
Locoregional BCa (I—IIIA)	115 (66.5)	20.03 ± 18.15
Distant BCa IV (IIIB—IV)	58 (33.5)	48.73 ± 49.30	< 0.0001^a
Lymph node metastasis
Yes	94 (54.3)	36.83 ± 41.78
No	79 (45.7)	21.12 ± 21.17	0.0002^a
Distant metastasis
Yes	36 (20.8)	56.33 ± 54.48
No	137 (79.2)	22.65 ± 22.95	< 0.0001^a
Metastasis site
Multiple sites	17 (47.2)^c	66.90 ± 61.64
Single site	19 (52.8)^c	46.88 ± 46.85	0.24^a
Bone	10 (27.8)^c	47.76 ± 58.02
Lung	5 (13.9)^c	64.69 ± 35.28
Liver	3 (8.3)^c	26.53 ± 8.51
Brain	1 (2.8)^c	10.97
Molecular subtype
Luminal A	66 (38.2)	30.92 ± 34.17
Luminal B	60 (34.7)	26.75 ± 27.03
Her2-enriched	18 (10.4)	37.94 ± 52.33
Triple negative	29 (16.7)	27.64 ± 37.97	0.81^b

^a Mann–Whitney U test. ^b Kruskal–Wallis test. ^c Proportion in cases with distant metastasis

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