MRE11 expression in the TC was high in 45% of cases and low in 52%. Expression in the TP was high in 56% and low in 44%. Mean weighted scores were significantly different between TC and TP (5.5 versus 5.8, P<0.05 by paired t-test). The mean MRE11 score was 4.2 for both adjacent and distal normal tissue, which was significantly different from the score for both the TC and TP (P<0.001). There were no significant associations between MRE11 score in the TC or TP and clinicopathologic characteristics (S3 Table).