SPARC and adenocarcinoma: In a multivariate Cox's proportional-hazard model, promoter methylation of SPARC was an independent adverse prognostic factor (P=0.0021; relative risk (RR) 4.65, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.75–12.35) next to stage (P=0.0003; RR 4.44, 95% CI 1.98–9.90) in adenocarcinoma cases (Table 2).