A new statistical method for curve group analysis of longitudinal gene expression data illustrated for breast cancer in the NOWAC postgenome cohort as a proof of principle

Table 1 Number of case-control pairs in each stratum and time period with gene expression data X _g,p

Strata		Year before diagnosis (time period)
Detection category	Lymph node status	5-3 (3)	2 (2)	1 (1)
Screen-detected cancers^a	With spread	41	11	6
Screen-detected cancers^a	Without spread	118	42	43
Interval cancers^b	With spread	28	9	6
Interval cancers^b	Without spread	30	15	10
Clinical cancers^c	With spread	11	8	10
Clinical cancers^c	Without spread	28	12	13

^aDiagnosed at a screening visit
^bDiagnosed within 2 years of a screening visit
^cDiagnosed clinically and did not attend the screening program or diagnosed clinically more than 2 years after a screening visit

ISSN: 1471-2288