FoxM1 overexpression promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 1 Clinicopathologic characteristics of the 172 hepatocellular carcinoma patients n (%)

Characteristic	Patients
Gender
Male	116 (67)
Female	56 (33)
Age (yr)
≤ 50	73 (42)
> 50	99 (58)
Underlying liver disease
HBV	133 (77)
Others	39 (23)
Liver function (Child-Pugh classification)
Grade A	157 (91)
Grade B	11 (6)
Grade C	4 (3)
Preoperative AFP level
≤ 200 ng/mL	66 (38)
> 200 ng/mL	90 (52)
Missing data	16 (10)
Tumor size
≤ 8 cm	116 (67)
> 8 cm	51 (30)
Undetermined	5 (3)
Tumor number
≤ 3	157 (91)
> 3	15 (9)
Cirrhotic background
No	39 (23)
Yes	133 (77)
Macrovascular invasion
No	149 (87)
Yes	23 (13)
Tumor differentiation
G1/G2	154 (90)
G3	10 (6)
Undetermined	8 (4)
TNM stage
Stage I + II	135 (78)
Stage III (IIIA+IIIB+IIIC)	37 (22)

HBV: Hepatitis B virus; AFP: α-fetoprotein; TNM: Tumor-nodes-metastasis.

Table 2 Correlation between forkhead box protein M1 and E-cadherin expression and clinicopathological characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma patients n (%)

Variable	Patients	FOXM1 expression		P-value	E-cadherin expression		P-value
		Low	High		Low	High
Gender
Male	116 (67)	48 (41)	68 (59)	0.185	73 (63)	43 (37)	0.187
Female	56 (33)	17 (30)	39 (70)		29 (52)	27 (48)
Age (yr)
≤ 50	73 (42)	24 (33)	49 (67)	0.270	42 (58)	31 (42)	0.754
> 50	99 (58)	41 (41)	58 (59)		60 (61)	39 (39)
Underlying liver disease
HBV	133 (69)	51 (38)	82 (62)	0.852	80 (60)	53 (40)	0.713
Others	39 (31)	14 (36)	25 (64)		22 (56)	17 (44)
Liver function (Child-Pugh classification)
Grade A	157 (91)	59 (38)	98 (62)	0.720	93 (59)	64 (41)	0.913
Grade B	11 (6)	4 (36)	7 (64)		7 (64)	4 (36)
Grade C	4 (3)	2 (50)	2 (50)		2 (50)	2 (50)
Preoperative AFP level
≤ 200 ng/mL	66 (42)	19 (29)	47 (71)	0.095	40 (61)	26 (39)	0.330
> 200 ng/mL	90 (58)	38 (42)	52 (58)		47 (52)	43 (48)
Tumor size
≤ 8 cm	116 (69)	52 (45)	64 (55)	0.002a	71 (61)	45 (39)	0.611
> 8 cm	51 (31)	10 (20)	41 (80)		29 (57)	22 (43)
Tumor number
≤ 3	157 (91)	64 (40)	93 (60)	0.010a	95 (61)	62 (39)	0.410
> 3	15 (9)	1 (7)	14 (93)		7 (47)	8 (53)
Cirrhotic background
No	39 (23)	11 (28)	28 (72)	0.191	18 (46)	21 (54)	0.066
Yes	133 (77)	54 (41)	79 (59)		84 (63)	49 (37)
Macrovascular invasion
No	149 (87)	63 (42)	86 (58)	0.002a	82 (55)	67 (45)	0.003a
Yes	23 (13)	2 (9)	21 (91)		20 (87)	3 (13)
Tumor differentiation
G1/G2	154 (94)	56 (34)	98 (66)	0.502	87 (56)	67 (44)	0.047a
G3	10 (6)	5 (80)	5 (20)		9 (90)	1 (10)
TNM stage
Stage I + II	135 (78)	58 (43)	77 (57)	0.008a	73 (53)	62 (47)	0.008a
Stage III (IIIA+IIIB+IIIC)	37 (22)	7 (19)	30 (81)		29 (78)	8 (22)

^aP < 0.05. HBV: Hepatitis B virus; AFP: α-fetoprotein; TNM: Tumor-nodes-metastasis; FoxM1: Forkhead box protein M1.

Table 3 Univariate and multivariate analyses of factors associated with survival of hepatocellular carcinoma patients

Variable	P-value
	Univariate analysis		Multivariate analysis
	RFS P-value	OS	RFS P-value	OS P-value
Gender (male vs female)	0.152	0.331	-	-
Age ( ≤ 50 yr vs > 50 yr)	0.478	0.663	-	-
Underlying disease (HBV vs others)	0.461	0.859	-	-
Liver function (A/B vs C)	0.764	0.493	-	-
Preoperative AFP level ( ≤ 200 ng/mL vs > 200 ng/mL)	0.179	0.228	-	-
Tumor size ( ≤ 8 cm vs > 8 cm)	< 0.002a	0.012a	0.174	0.391
Tumor number ( ≤ 3 vs > 3)	0.002a	0.015a	0.228	0.348
Cirrhotic background (no vs yes)	0.172	0.373	-	-
Macrovascular invasion (no vs yes)	< 0.001a	< 0.001a	< 0.001a	0.003a
Tumor differentiation (G1/G2 vs G3)	0.131	0.179	-	-
TNM stage (I/II vs III)	< 0.001a	0.006a	0.013a	0.011a
FOXM1 expression (low vs high)	0.004a	0.007a	0.012a	0.008a

^aP < 0.05. HBV: Hepatitis B virus; AFP: α-fetoprotein; TNM: Tumor-nodes-metastasis; FoxM1: Forkhead box protein M1; OS: Overall survival; RFS: Relapse-free survival.