Decreased STAT4 indicates poor prognosis and enhanced cell proliferation in hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 1 Clinicopathological features of hepatocellular carcinoma in relation to the Stat4/Ki67 expression pattern in 90 patients

Clinicopathological features	Total	Stat4				Ki67
		Low < 0.53	High > 0.53	P value	χ2value	Low < 0.48	High > 0.48	P value	χ2value
		n = 40	n = 50			n = 49	n = 41
Age (yr)
< 45	33	13	20	0.463	0.538	17	16	0.671	0.180
≥ 45	57	27	30			32	25
Gender
Male	57	26	31	0.769	0.086	31	26	0.988	0.000
Female	33	14	19			18	15
Serum AFP level (ng/mL)
< 25	34	19	15	0.089	2.895	18	16	0.823	0.050
≥ 25	56	21	35			31	25
Liver cirrhosis
No	26	13	13	0.499	0.457	13	13	0.589	0.291
Yes	64	27	37			36	28
No. of tumor nodes
Single	51	24	27	0.568	0.326	29	22	0.598	0.278
Multiple	39	16	23			20	19
HBV
Negative	43	25	18	0.0121	6.255	27	16	0.128	2.313
Positive	47	15	32			22	25
Maximal tumor size (cm)
< 4.5	40	30	9	0.0001	29.403	31	8	0.0001	17.402
≥ 4.5	50	10	41			18	33
Tumor metastasis
No	77	36	41	0.283	1.151	42	35	0.963	0.002
Yes	13	4	9			7	6
Microvascular invasion
No	66	30	36	0.749	0.102	36	30	0.975	0.001
Yes	24	10	14			13	11
Histological grade
I-II	49	36	13	0.0001	36.699	35	14	0.000	12.510
III-IV	41	4	37			14	27
Ki67 expression
Low	49	33	16	0.0001	22.849
High	41	7	34

¹The P value was considered significant. Statistical analyses were carried out using pearson χ² test. HBV: Hepatitis B virus.

Table 2 Survival status and clinicopathological parameters in 90 hepatocellular carcinoma speciments

Parameters	Total	Survival Status		P value	χ2value
		Dead	Alive
		n = 43	n = 47
Age (yr)
< 45	33	16	17	0.919	0.010
≥ 45	57	27	30
Gender
Male	57	26	31	0.589	0.292
Female	33	17	16
Serum AFP level (ug/mL)
< 25	34	15	19	0.588	0.293
≥ 25	56	28	28
Cirrhosis
No	26	13	13	0.788	0.072
Yes	64	30	34
No. of tumor nodes
Single	51	23	28	0.561	0.339
Multiple	39	20	19
HBV
Negative	43	14	29	0.006	7.644
Positive	47	29	18
Maximal tumor size (cm)
< 4.5	39	7	32	< 0.051	24.543
≥ 4.5	51	36	15
Tumor metastasis
No	77	36	41	0.636	0.224
Yes	13	7	6
Microvascular invasion
No	66	31	35	0.799	0.065
Yes	24	12	12
Histological grade
I-II	49	14	35	< 0.051	15.902
III-IV	41	29	12
Stat4 expression
Low	40	6	34	< 0.051	31.003
High	50	37	13
Ki67 expression
Low	49	10	39	< 0.051	32.293
High	41	33	8

¹The P value was considered significant. Statistical analyses were performed using Pearson χ² test. HBV: Hepatitis B virus.

Table 3 Contribution of various potential prognostic factors to survival by Cox regression analysis in hepatocellular carcinoma specimens

Parameters	RR	95%CI	P value
Age (yr)	0.156	0.060-0.405	0.069
Gender	1.629	0.843-3.147	0.147
Serum AFP Level (ng/mL)	0.885	0.476-1.647	0.701
Cirrhosis	2.066	0.934-4.572	0.073
Tumor numbers	1.166	0.595-2.288	0.654
HBV	0.742	0.546-1.013	0.057
Maximal tumor size (cm)	0.448	0.460-0.951	0.014
Tumor metastasis	1.732	0.644-4.658	0.277
Microvascular Invasion	0.874	0.430-1.778	0.710
Histological grade	0.343	0.599-0.817	0.0231
STAT4 expression	0.411	0.222-0.758	< 0.0011
Ki67 expression	0.454	0.193-1.065	0.0041

¹The P value was considered significant. Statistical analyses were performed using Long-rank test. HBV: Hepatitis B virus.