Human Calmodulin-Like Protein CALML3: A Novel Marker for Normal Oral Squamous Mucosa That Is Downregulated in Malignant Transformation
Table 1
Summary of staining results, by tissue type.
Cellular compartment
Tissue type
P value‡
Benign ()
Dysplasia/CIS ()
Invasive ()
Any of the 3 tissue types
Benign versus Dys/CIS
Benign versus invasive
Dys/CIS versus invasive
Superficial: cytoplasmic membrane
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
0.99
No/weak stain
5 (16.7%)
14 (77.8%)
32 (76.2%)
Intermediate/strong stain
25 (83.3%)
4 (22.2%)
10 (23.8%)
Superficial: cytoplasm
<0.001
0.014
0.26
<0.001
No/weak stain
25 (83.3%)
9 (50%)
39 (92.9%)
Intermediate/strong stain
5 (16.7%)
9 (50%)
3 (7.1%)
Superficial: nucleus
<0.001
0.23
<0.001
<0.001
No/weak stain
13 (43.3%)
11 (61.1%)
41 (97.6%)
Intermediate/strong stain
17 (56.7%)
7 (38.9%)
1 (2.4%)
Superficial: total stain score†
Median (IQR)
5 (5, 6)
4 (2, 5)
2 (1, 3)
<0.001
0.013
<0.001
0.003
Basal: cytoplasmic membrane
0.022
0.28
0.027
—
No/weak stain
26 (86.7%)
18 (100%)
42 (100%)
Intermediate/strong stain
4 (13.3%)
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
Basal: cytoplasm
0.13
—
—
—
No/weak stain
27 (90%)
15 (83.3%)
41 (97.6%)
Intermediate/strong stain
3 (10%)
3 (16.7%)
1 (2.4%)
Basal: nucleus
0.99
—
—
—
No/weak stain
30 (100%)
18 (100%)
42 (100%)
Intermediate/strong stain
0
0
0
Basal: total stain score†
Median (IQR)
1 (0, 2)
1 (0, 2)
0 (0, 1)
<0.001
0.55
<0.001
0.010
IQR: interquartile range. Values are reported as (%) unless otherwise noted. Total stain score was derived as the sum of the staining grades for the three components: cytoplasmic membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus components. Each component was graded on a scale of 0 = absent, 1 = weak, 2 = intermediate, and 3 = strong. Comparisons between the three tissues types were evaluated based on the chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test for the categorical variables and the Kruskal-Wallis test for the total stain scores. If the P value for the overall test for differences was <0.05, then pair-wise comparisons among the three tissue types were performed.
