Fig. 5

Comparison of 5-hmC levels and MI in 10 tumor suppressor genes with LINE-1 hypomethylation levels in primary HNSCC tissues. a Spearman rank correlations between 5-hmC levels and LINE-1 hypomethylation levels among 177 HNSCCs (R2 = 0.0929, P < 0.001). b Correlation between 5-hmC levels and LINE-1 hypomethylation levels in HNSCC patients (Student’s t-test; P = 0.006). c Distribution of LINE-1 hypomethylation levels and promoter methylation among the 10 tumor suppressor genes. Shaded boxes indicate the presence of methylation, whereas open boxes indicate the absence of methylation. d Correlation between MI and LINE-1 hypomethylation levels in HNSCC patients (P = 0.0003). The gene methylation rates for the different groups are compared using Student’s t-test. **P < 0.01