Fig. 5

DLX1 was associated with disease progression and immunohistochemical staining showed a stepwise decrease of DXL1 from normal thyroid tissues to advanced stages of PTC tissues. A DLX1 expression in PTC tissues and corresponding adjacent normal thyroid tissues were obtained from TCGA database and specifically compared. B Kaplan–Meier survival analysis revealed patients with low DXL1 expression (n = 129) have decreased progression free survival comparing to ones with high DXL1 levels (n = 386). Cut off value: 2.5943. C Immunohistochemical staining (IHC) of DXL1 protein was performed in normal thyroid tissues and different stages of PTC tissues D IHC scores were calculated by staining intensity*staining percentage and compared between normal thyroid and different stages of PTC tissues. Data are presented as means ± SD. Statistical significance was assessed using paired Student T-test or one-way ANOVA post-hoc Tukey’s multiple comparisons test, *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001