Table 5 Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis of recurrence-free survival

Protein expression high vs. low

1.54 (1.16–2.04)

0.003

1.31 (1.01–1.71)

0.042

Age at surgery (years)

<0.001

1.04 (1.02–-1.07)

<0.001

1.04 (1.02–1.06)

<0.001

Tumor size

<0.001

Not included

Not included

 <2 cm

  ≥ 2–5 cm

 >5 cm

Histology

0.11

Not included

Not included

 Ductal vs. non-ductal

T stage

<0.001

 T1 vs. ≥T2

1.77 (1.15–2.74)

0.01

1.80 (1.16–2.80)

0.009

Grade

<0.001

 I

Reference

Reference

 II

1.79 (0.65–4.98)

0.262

1.85 (0.66–5.14)

0.24

 III

2.18 (0.75–6.35)

0.154

2.64 (0.92–7.59)

0.072

Nodal status

<0.001

 N0 vs. ≥N1

1.62 (1.10–2.40)

0.015

1.59 (1.07–2.35)

0.021

Menopausal status

0.01

 Pre/peri vs. postmenopausal

0.65 (0.31–1.38)

0.263

0.73 (0.35–1.54)

0.41

 ER- vs. ER+

<0.001

Not included

Not included

 PgR- vs. PgR+

<0.001

Not included

Not included

 HER2- vs. HER2+

0.489

Not included

Not included

 HR- vs. HR+

<0.001

0.79 (0.49–1.27)

0.334

0.69 (0.43–1.10)

0.115

Receptor-defined subtypes

<0.001

Not included

Not included

 Luminal A-like

 Luminal B-like (HER2 positive)

 Luminal B-like (HER2 negative)

 HER2 positive (non-luminal-like)

 TNBC