Spss software package v 17

Statistical data are expressed as means ± standard errors (SE) from three replicates. Results for the analytical determinations were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA). All analyses were performed with SPSS software package v.17.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA), using Tukey’s honestly significant difference (HSD) test to examine if differences between groups of samples were significant at a P value of <0.05.

Data plotting and statistical analysis were conducted using SPSS software package V.17.0 (SPSS Software, Inc.) and GraphPad Prism V.6.01 (GraphPad Software, Inc.).
Two-tailed Mann-Whitney test was used to analyze the association between miRNA expression and categorical clinicopathological parameters (two categories) while Kruskal-Wallis rank-sum test was used to compare categorical parameters defined by more than two different groups. The correlation between miRNA expression and continuous clinicopathological variables (Breslow thickness and mitotic index) was assessed by Spearman correlation.
Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier curves (Log-rank test). A Cox proportional hazard model was constructed using stepwise selection to identify independent predictors of clinical outcome, considering Hazard Ratios (HR), 95% CI and p values.
Distant metastasis free survival (DMFS) and melanoma specific survival (MSS) were defined as the period from the date of surgical excision of the primary melanoma to the date distant metastasis occurred or last follow-up (censored), or death from melanoma (event), respectively. For all statistical tests, a p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Patient characteristics were compared using chi-square (χ²), Fisher’s exact, or Mann–Whitney U test, as appropriate. Complete remission (CR) was defined as bone marrow with less than 5% blasts and evidence of regeneration of normal hematopoietic cells. Overall survival (OS) was calculated from the date of diagnosis to death or last contact. Event-free survival (EFS) was the time between diagnosis and occurrence of the first event (i.e., failure to achieve complete remission, relapse, secondary tumor, or death of any cause). OS and EFS were estimated using the Kaplan–Meier analysis, and the differences were compared using the log-rank test. A p value of ≤ 0.05 (two-sided) was considered statistical significance. The analyses were performed with SPSS software package v17.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, Illinois).