sHLA-G based on clinicopathological parameters, HLA-G expression in tissue, and the HLA-G 14-bp sequence status.

Abbreviations: sHLA-G, soluble human leukocyte antigen-G; HLA-G, human leukocyte antigen-G; HER2, receptor for human epidermal growth factor; bp, base pair; −14 bp, absence of HLA-G 3′UTR 14-bp sequence; +14 bp, presence of HLA-G 3′UTR 14-bp sequence.Data are shown as numbers of cases and percentages or ‘median (1st to 3rd quartiles)’.1The P-values were calculated using the Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test with Bonferroni correction.2The median age of the breast cancer group was 52.0 years.3The median sHLA-G level of stage IV patients was significantly higher than those of other stages within the breast cancer group.4The modified TNM stage was stratified according to Chen et al. [27]