Fig. 1

OPN, TGFβ, and β-catenin levels in tumor tissues from patients with different clinical characteristics. A Comparison of OPN (osteopontin) levels in tumors from patients with different clinical characteristics. B Comparison of TGFβ1 (transforming growth factor β) levels in tumors from patients with different clinical characteristics. C Comparison of β-catenin levels in tumors from patients with different clinical characteristics. Representative cropped blots of tumors from 10 patients are shown next to the graphs. For TGFβ1 and β-catenin bonds from different part of the same blot and different blots were combined. Molecular weight of analyzed proteins: OPN—40 kDa, TGFβ1—35 kDa, β-catenin—92 kDa. Full-length blots are presented in Figure S2 in the Supplementary Materials. Patients were classified into groups according to plasma 25(OH)D₃ levels (VD3, < 30 ng/mL—deficiency (n = 57), > 30 ng/mL—normal (n = 22)), plasma FSH levels (< 25.8 mIU/mL—premenopausal (n = 28), > 25.8 mIU/mL—postmenopausal (n = 52)) and regional or distant metastasis presence (if any—present (n = 23), otherwise absent (n = 57)). Densitometric analysis was performed using ImageJ software. The results were normalized to β-actin levels. Data are presented as the mean ± SD. Statistical analysis was carried out using Student’s t-test or the Mann–Whitney U test. *p ≤ 0.05