Clinical significance of citrullinated glial fibrillary acidic protein in predicting outcomes in hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 1 Baseline characteristics according to citrullinated glial fibrillary acidic protein expression, mean ± SD/n (%)

Variables	Total (n = 169)	Low (n = 87)	High (n = 82)	P value
Age (years)	62.49 ± 12.15	63.03 ± 10.76	61.83 ± 13.47	0.520
Sex (male)	137 (81.1)	76 (87.4)	61 (74.3)	0.032
HBsAg-positive (+)	115 (68.5)	66 (75.9)	49 (60.5)	0.032
DM	53 (31.4)	28 (32.2)	25 (30.4)	0.812
HTN	78 (46.2)	40 (46.0)	38 (46.3)	0.962
LC	92 (54.4)	53 (60.9)	39 (47.5)	0.081
Child-Pugh class (B/A)	13/156	5/82	8/74	0.328
Tumor size (≥ 5 cm/< 5 cm)	47/122	24/63	23/59	0.947
Tumor number	1.24 ± 0.612	1.22 ± 0.53	1.26 ± 0.08	0.230
PVI	65 (38.7)	28 (32.2)	37 (45.7)	0.073
Edmonson-Steiner (1, 2/3, 4)	52/116	33/54	19/63	0.038
WBC	5800 (1100-24400)	5700 (1100-19600)	6742 (1700-24400)	0.271
Platelet	167 (22-401)	157 (22-401)	175 (34-401)	0.169
Serum ALT (IU/L)	28 (8-235)	28 (11-140)	28 (8-235)	0.276
Total bilirubin	0.64 (0.20-9.30)	0.64 (0.30-2.80)	0.65 (0.20-9.30)	0.662
Albumin	4.2 (2.3-5.5)	4.2 (2.7-5.5)	4.3 (2.3-5.2)	0.504
PT-INR	1.04 (0.87-1.63)	1.06 (0.88-1.63)	1.02 (0.87-1.56)	0.079
AFP > 400	29 (17.3)	14 (16.1)	15 (18.2)	0.705

HBsAg: Hepatitis B surface antigen; DM: Diabetes mellitus; HTN: Hypertension; LC: Liver cirrhosis; PVI: Perivascular invasion; WBC: White blood counts; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; PT-INR: Prothrombin time and international normalized ratio; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein.

Table 2 Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses for mortality following surgical treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma patients

Variables	Univariate analysis			Multivariate analysis
	HR	95%CI	P value	HR	95%CI	P value
Age (years)	1.021	0.981-1.062	0.312
Sex (male/female)	1.274	0.363-4.475	0.705
DM	0.871	0.308-2.461	0.794
HTN	0.869	0.349-2.164	0.762
HBsAg-positive (+)	0.494	0.199-1.221	0.127
LC	0.954	0.387-2.349	0.918
Child-Pugh class (B/A)	2.192	0.504-9.542	0.296
Tumor size (≥ 5 cm/< 5 cm)	3.323	1.315-8.398	0.011	2.967	1.097-8.024	0.032
Tumor number (single vs multiple)	2.270	0.882-5.842	0.089
Edmonson-Steiner (1, 2/3, 4)	2.318	0.759-7.083	0.140
Platelet	1.003	0.995-1.010	0.493
Serum ALT (IU/L)	1.010	0.995-1.025	0.208
AFP > 400	2.736	1.025-7.303	0.045	1.696	0.5691-4.863	0.326
cit-GFAP (high/Low)	2.707	1.006-7.290	0.049	2.753	1.015-7.464	0.047

DM: Diabetes mellitus; HTN: Hypertension; HBsAg: Hepatitis B surface antigen; LC: Liver cirrhosis; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; cit-GFAP: Citrullinated glial fibrillary acidic protein; HR: Hazard ratio; CI: Confidence interval.

Table 3 Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses for recurrence following surgical treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma patients

Variables	Univariate analysis			Multivariate analysis
	HR	95%CI	P value	HR	95%CI	P value
Age (years)	1.002	0.982-1.022	0.845
Sex (male/female)	0.932	0.487-1.787	0.833
DM	0.864	0.512-1.458	0.583
HTN	1.237	0.768-1.994	0.381
HBsAg-positive (+)	0.965	0.576-1.617	0.892
LC	0.959	0.592-1.552	0.863
Child-Pugh class (B/A)	2.196	0.947-5.090	0.067
Tumor size (≥ 5 cm/< 5 cm)	2.493	1.503-4.136	< 0.001	2.378	1.426-3.965	< 0.001
Tumor number (single vs multiple)	1.173	0.650-2.120	0.596
Edmonson-Steiner (1, 2/3, 4)	1.223	0.735-2.037	0.493
Platelet	0.999	0.996-1.003	0.646
Serum ALT (IU/L)	1.009	1.001-1.017	0.032	1.007	0.999-1.015	0.081
AFP > 400	1.643	0.824-2.793	0.181
cit-GFAP (high/Low)	1.456	0.895-2.369	0.130

DM: Diabetes mellitus; HTN: Hypertension; HBsAg: Hepatitis B surface antigen; LC: Liver cirrhosis; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; cit-GFAP: Citrullinated glial fibrillary acidic protein; HR: Hazard ratio; CI: Confidence interval.