Table 3. Association between ephrinA5 isoforms, clinical parameters and disease-free survival/overall survival.

Parameters	Category	No.Ofpatients	Disease-free survival (months)			Overall survival (months)
			Mean	95% CI	Pa	Mean	95% CI	Pa
EphrinA5Sb	Low ( 0.3)	30	35.4	23.3–47.5		85.9	72.0–99.9
	High (>0.3)	112	73.3	61.6–85.1	0.019*	113.4	98.5–128.3	0.045*
EphrinA5Lb	Low ( 0.5)	61	47.4	37.0–57.7		93.5	84.7–102.2
	High (>0.5)	81	72.9	59.0–86.8	0.261	109.5	91.1–127.9	0.502
Sex	Female	23	58.7	42.2–75.2		83.0	71.5–94.6
	Male	119	65.0	53.6–76.3	0.493	111.7	98.9–124.5	0.583
Age (years)	55	58	64.6	53.2–75.9		95.9	87.2–104.5
	>55	84	56.9	44.1–69.6	0.016*	106.9	88.9–124.8	0.853
HBsAg	Negative	34	31.1	18.2–44.1		78.1	63.8–92.5
	Positive	108	75.2	63.6–86.9	<0.001*	120.4	113.3–127.5	0.014*
Anti-HCV	Negative	94	73.4	60.7–86.1		116.8	108.0–125.7
	Positive	48	43.8	32.1–55.5	0.057	87.6	79.4–95.8	0.655
Alcoholism	Negative	97	70.0	57.5–82.5		105.8	91.2–120.5
	Positive	45	48.4	35.4–61.4	0.437	94.7	89.5–99.9	0.103
Cirrhosis	Absence	44	55.8	42.3–69.3		90.0	82.2–97.9
	Presence	98	63.1	50.9–75.4	0.445	105.7	88.2–123.3	0.446
Microvascular invasion	Absence	88	74.6	61.6–87.6		105.4	88.1–122.8
	Presence	54	44.1	32.6–55.6	0.026*	98.7	90.2–107.2	0.456
Macrovascular invasion	Absence	105	64.9	53.4–76.4		109.0	94.5–123.6
	Presence	37	59.0	43.0–75.1	0.737	89.4	78.9–100.0	0.789
Histology grading	II	35	72.4	53.2–91.6		118.7	106.3–131.2
	> II	107	52.1	43.4–60.9	0.437	87.5	81.7–93.2	0.564
Capsule	Absence	45	53.2	41.4–65.1		96.5	87.3–105.7
	Presence	97	64.0	51.4–76.6	0.538	106.7	89.0–124.4	0.794
Largest tumor size (diameter, cm)	□3	51	79.5	63.4–95.5		120.4	110.9–129.8
	>3	91	48.0	38.6–57.4	0.036*	86.2	79.3–93.0	0.304
Ascites	Absence	126	66.4	55.7–77.2		110.9	98.4–123.4
	Presence	16	52.9	28.0–77.7	0.875	87.8	75.7–99.8	0.808
Alpha-fetoprotein (ng/mL)	□ 10.0	41	88.5	71.9–105.0		124.4	116.2–132.6
	>10.0	101	45.8	36.8–54.7	0.003*	84.4	77.6–91.3	0.053
Albumin (g/L)	<4.0	56	40.2	28.8–51.6		98.3	89.4–107.3
	4.0	86	77.0	64.1–89.9	0.004*	106.2	88.9–123.6	0.604
Bilirubin (mg/dL)	<0.9	44	77.0	58.5–95.4		115.9	102.5–129.2
	≧ 0.9	98	50.3	41.5–59.0	0.231	94.2	86.9–101.6	0.980
Prothrombin time (sec)	12.0	79	72.1	58.3–85.9		113.6	103.5–123.6
	>12.0	63	48.6	37.7–59.6	0.234	97.3	89.2–105.4	0.451
Creatinine (mg/dL)	□ 1.0	75	49.7	39.8–59.6		88.2	81.8–94.5
	>1.0	67	73.4	58.2–88.7	0.201	115.7	104.8–126.7	0.872
AST (U/L)	□ 52	88	73.6	60.8–86.5		116.0	106.7–125.3
	>52	54	44.0	32.0–55.9	0.032*	88.8	81.3–96.2	0.959
ALT (U/L)	□ 111	114	73.3	61.9–84.7		116.4	108.3–124.5
	>111	28	29.5	15.9–43.0	0.001*	88.2	78.5–97.9	0.818

^aKaplan-Meier analysis with log rank test.

^bRelative expression of ephrinA5 mRNA assessed by real-time RT-PCR using peritumoral liver tissues.

CI: Confidence Interval,

^*P<0.05.