Version 19

Date of TNBC diagnosis was defined as the date of the biopsy report confirming a TNBC tumor. Overall survival time was defined from the date of diagnosis to the date of last follow-up, or if a patient passed away, then the date of last follow-up was the day before the patient’s date of death.24 (link) Kaplan-Meier (KM) curves were created using “MedCalc version 19.0.4” (MedCalc Software Ltd, Ostend, Belgium), to assess the survival function between OS and different parameters. This included the TNBC study population, AR status, type of surgery and treatments. Median OS times with standard error were calculated from the KM curves in “MedCalc”. A 95% CI was included for the median OS time. One-, two- and three-year OS probabilities were derived from the KM curves. The “Log rank test” was used to find the statistical significance between OS and AR status, type of surgery and treatments.

Continuous variables were expressed as median (interquartile range) and categorical variables were presented as counts (percentages, %). Mann-Whitney U-test was used for continuous variables and the χ² test for categorical variables. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve was used to determine diagnostic performance and calculate the optimal cutoffs, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV). The highest value of Youden’s index was used to determine optimal cutoffs. Pairwise comparisons between AUROC values of different steatosis indices were conducted by the DeLong method. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 22.0 and MedCalc version 19.0.4 software. A two-tailed P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Baseline characteristics were described as mean±SD for continuous variables and percentages for categorical variables. The Student t test was used to compare continuous variables, whereas the χ² test was used to compare categorical variables. Linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the determinants of the pulmonary function indexes. Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the independence of spirometric variables in the association with long‐term mortality, with further adjustment for the putative confounders by backwards selection in the multivariable analyses. For the optimal cutoff value for increased risk of all‐cause mortality, we performed receiver‐operating characteristic curve analysis and determined the cutoff value with a maximal Youden index. Kaplan‐Meier survival curve was used to assess the prognostic significance of the independent pulmonary function indexes. The median time to event was estimated in the subpopulations, who had a mortality rate of ≥0.5 during the follow‐up period. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 24.0 (SPSS Incorporation, Chicago, IL) and MedCalc Version 19.0.4 (MedCalc Software, Ostend, Belgium). All tests were 2‐sided, and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

The uNCR was calculated according to formula: uNCR (pg/mg) = uNGAL × 10³/uCr × 112. The data were tested first by normality test. If the data conformed to a normal distribution, the statistical analysis was performed using the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) approach. Otherwise, the statistical analysis was performed using the nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test with P<0.05 considered to be a significant difference. The urinary and plasma biomarker performance was ascertained using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis (26 (link)). Statistical software MedCalc version 19.0.4 (MedCalc Software Ltd., Ostend, Belgium) was used to analyse the ROC curve of the blood and urine concentration of each index to acquire the associated criterion determined by the maximum value of the Youden index, and the sensitivity and specificity of each index are listed (Appendix 1). The calculation formula of the Youden index was: