IGFBP3 impedes aggressive growth of pediatric liver cancer and is epigenetically silenced in vascular invasive and metastatic tumors

Table 1 Associations of the clinical characteristics and IGFBP3 methylation status in 36 pediatric patients with hepatoblastoma

		IGFBP3
parameters	group	no. of tumors	methylated	unmethylated	P
gender^a	m	18	3	15	0.2482
	f	18	6	12
age at diagnosis^b	< 2	21	4	17	0.3570
	> 2	12	4	8
histological subtype^c	f	20	3	17	0.1213
	e	16	6	10
metastases	yes	15	7	8	0.0047
	no	19	1	18
outcome^d	NED	25	4	21	0.0508
	DOD	8	4	4
multifocal growth	yes	7	3	4	0.2662
	no	19	4	15
invasion of large hepatic veins	yes	8	6	2	0.0001
	no	25	2	23

^am, male; f, female
^bThe age of patients at diagnosis is given in months
^cEpithelial component with predominantly fetal, f, or embryonal, e, differentiation
^dNED, no evidence of disease; DOD, dead of disease

ISSN: 1476-4598