Upregulation of nemo-like kinase is an independent prognostic factor in colorectal cancer

Table 2 Association of nemo-like kinase expression with clinicopathologic parameters of colorectal cancer patients (n = 712)

Parameter	NLK immunostaining				P value
	-	+	++	+++
Sex					0.1651
Male	29	112	210	55
Female	31	90	147	38
Age (yr)					0.4081
< 60	33	129	211	65
≥ 60	27	73	146	28
Tumor location					< 0.0011
Colon cancer	48	110	145	36
Rectal cancer	12	92	212	57
Invasion depth					0.9801
T1-T2	6	27	42	12
T3-T4	54	175	315	81
Lymph node metastasis					0.0272
N0	35	122	180	43
N1	21	54	120	36
N2	4	26	57	14
Distant metastasis					< 0.0011
M0	59	195	340	69
M1	1	7	17	24
TNM stage					< 0.0012
I	4	22	21	6
II	31	97	154	30
III	24	76	165	33
IV	1	7	17	24
Tumor differentiation					0.0191
Well, moderate	42	182	326	82
Poor, mucinous	18	20	31	11
Serum CEA (ng/mL)					0.5701
< 5	39	123	220	63
≥ 5	21	79	137	30
Serum CA19-9 (U/mL)					0.2641
< 37	51	178	294	79
≥ 37	9	24	63	14
Recurrence					< 0.0011
No	56	176	257	68
Yes	4	26	80	25

¹Mann-Whitney U test;

²Kruskal-Wallis test. CA19-9: Cancer antigen 19-9; CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; TNM: Tumor-node-metastasis.