Table 1 Demographic and clinico-pathologic data of the investigated groups
Parameter | Breast cancer | Benign patients | Healthy controls | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | 196 | 76 | 49 | – |
Age (years, mean±SD) | 52.4 ± 9.1 | 52.0 ± 9.3 | 52.0 ± 9.3 | 0.923a |
Menopause status (no. (%)) | ||||
 Pre-menopausal | 114 (58.2%) | 39 (51.3%) | 28 (57%) | 0.059 |
 Post-menopausal | 82 (41.8%) | 37 (48.7%) | 21 (42.9%) | |
Tumor invasion | ||||
 DCI | 89 (45.4%) |  |  |  |
 IDC | 107 (54.6%) |  |  | |
Tumor depth (stage) | ||||
 Stage I | 57 (29.1%) |  |  |  |
 Stage II | 53 (27%) |  |  | |
 Stage III | 70 (35.7) |  |  | |
 Stage IV | 16 (8.2%) |  |  | |
Tumor histological grade | ||||
 Grade I | 64 (32.6%) |  |  |  |
 Grade II | 58 (29.6%) |  |  | |
 Grade III | 74 (37.8%) |  |  | |
Lymph node invasion | ||||
 Negative | 101 (51.5%) |  |  |  |
 Positive | 95 (48.5%) |  |  | |
ER | ||||
 Negative | 67 (34.2%) |  |  |  |
 Positive | 129 (65.8%) |  |  | |
PgR | ||||
 Negative | 61 (31.1%) |  |  |  |
 Positive | 135 (68.9%) |  |  | |
HER-2/neu status | ||||
 Negative | 73 (37.2%) |  |  |  |
 Positive | 123 (62.8%) |  |  | |