The 5'-end transitional CpGs between the CpG islands and retroelements are hypomethylated in association with loss of heterozygosity in gastric cancers

Table 4 Clinicopathological characteristics of gastric cancers according to the level of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and microsatellite instability*

	Total	High LOH	Low LOH	p†	Baseline LOH	Microsatellite instability
No. of patients	50	20	19		6	5
Age (years)
Mean ± SD	59.6 ± 12.6	60.5 ± 11.7	61.1 ± 11.6	0.883	55.0 ± 7.9	66.8 ± 7.3
Tumor size (cm)
Mean ± SD	4.9 ± 2.8	5.2 ± 2.7	4.4 ± 3.1	0.402	4.3 ± 1.8	6.3 ± 3.2
Sex
Male	32	15	12	0.325	3	2
Female	18	5	7		3	3
Lauren classification
Intestinal	29	10	16	0.032	0	3
Diffuse	11	5	3		3	0
Mixed	10	5	0		3	2
Differentiation
Well	4	0	3	0.046	0	1
Moderate	26	11	13		0	2
Poor	20	9	3		6	2
Growth pattern
Infiltrative	27	14	9	0.126	2	2
Expanding	3	0	3		0	0
Mixed	20	6	7		4	3
Venous invasion
Yes	6	4	0	0.059	2	0
No	44	16	19		4	5
Lymphatic invasion
Yes	29	16	5	0.001	5	3
No	21	4	14		1	2
Tumor stage
Early stage	29	8	15	0.015	2	4
Advanced stage	21	12	4		4	1

*The classification of microsatellite genotypes is detailed in the "Material and Method" section.
†p values were calculated between the low LOH and high LOH cases by an independent t test for the age and tumor size variables and by a Fisher's exact test or a χ ²test for other variables.

ISSN: 1471-2407