Table 3. Prognostic Significance of Sustained Response Duration for Overall Survival.
| Variables | Univariate Analysis | Multivariate Analysis A | Multivariate Analysis B | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HR (95% CI) | P Value | HR (95% CI) | P Value | HR (95% CI) | P Value | |
| Age (≤60 vs >60 y) | 0.910 (0.785-1.055) | .43 | ||||
| Gender (male vs female) | 1.204 (0.953-1.521) | .13 | ||||
| Hepatitis B virus (yes vs no) | 1.010 (0.907-1.125) | .78 | ||||
| Hepatitis C virus (yes vs no) | 0.931 (0.729-1.190) | .65 | ||||
| α-Fetoprotein (≤400 vs >400 ng/mL) | 0.844 (0.652-1.093) | .18 | ||||
| Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (≤37 vs >37 U/ml) | 1.054 (0.965-1.151) | .22 | ||||
| γ-Glutamyltransferase (≤50 vs >50 U/L) | 1.070 (0.994-1.151) | .06 | ||||
| Alkaline phosphatase (≤110 vs >110 U/L) | 1.041 (0.930-1.167) | .44 | ||||
| Aspartate aminotransferase (≤40 vs >40 U/L) | 1.441 (1.288-1.612) | <.001 | 1.357 (1.209-1.522) | <.001 | 1.342 (1.196-1.506) | <.001 |
| Alanine transaminase (≤40 vs >40 U/L) | 1.181 (0.963-1.448) | .11 | ||||
| Albumin (≤35 vs >35 g/L) | 0.860 (0.731-1.013) | .07 | ||||
| Total bilirubin (≤1.2 vs >1.2 mg/dL) | 1.121 (0.930-1.351) | .10 | ||||
| Prothrombin time (≤14 vs >14 s) | 0.955 (0.788-1.158) | .65 | ||||
| White blood cell count (≤4000/μL vs >4000/μL) | 1.009 (0.896-1.136) | .82 | ||||
| Hemoglobin (≤12 vs >12 g/dL) | 1.305 (0.886-1.209) | .79 | ||||
| Platelet count (≤100 vs >100 × 103/μL) | 0.927 (0.835-1.030) | .36 | ||||
| Creatinine (≤1.0 vs >1.2 mg/dL) | 1.042 (0.946-1.148) | .12 | ||||
| Cirrhosis (yes vs no) | 0.893 (0.744-1.073) | .07 | ||||
| Child-Pugh classification (A vs B) | 1.103 (0.965-1.272) | .12 | ||||
| Ascites (yes vs no) | 0.919 (0.804-1.050) | .27 | ||||
| Indocyanine green retention at 15 min (≤10% vs >10%) | 1.074 (0.991-1.164) | .06 | ||||
| Tumor size (≤5 vs >5 cm) | 2.169 (1.651-2.851) | <.001 | 1.802 (1.486-2.185) | <.001 | 1.731 (1.515-1.977) | <.001 |
| Tumor No. (≤3 vs >3) | 2.263 (2.041-2.509) | <.001 | 1.840 (1.609-2.103) | <.001 | 1.774 (1.464-2.105) | <.001 |
| Bilobar disease (yes vs no) | 0.993 (0.897-1.100) | .89 | ||||
| Extent of disease within liver (≤50% vs >50%) | 0.979 (0.879-1.091) | .97 | ||||
| Capsule (absent vs present) | 0.532 (0.478-0.593) | <.001 | 0.723 (0.620-0.843) | <.001 | 0.703 (0.626-0.851) | <.001 |
| Use of sorafenib (yes vs no) | 0.954 (0.855-1.064) | .40 | ||||
| Objective response as the initial responsea | 0.267 (0.236-0.303) | <.001 | 0.406 (0.358-0.460) | <.001 | ||
| Objective response as the best responsea | 0.582 (0.526-0.645) | <.001 | 0.769 (0.673-0.878) | <.001 | ||
| Sustained response duration (<6 vs ≥6 mo) | 0.132 (0.112-0.168) | <.001 | 0.145 (0.124-0.170) | <.001 | 0.142 (0.121-0.174) | <.001 |
Abbreviation: HR, hazard ratio.
SI conversion factors: To convert α-fetoprotein to μg/L, multiply by 1.0; γ-glutamyltransferase, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine transaminase to μkat/L, multiply by 0.0167; total bilirubin to μmol/L, multiply by 17.104; white blood cell count to ×109/L, multiply by 0.001; hemoglobin to g/L, multiply by 10.0; platelet count to ×109/L, multiply by 1.0; and creatinine to μmol/L, multiply by 88.4.
Objective response was defined as the sum of complete response and partial response. Considering there was close correlation between the initial response and the best response, they were separately entered into 2 multivariate analyses with sustained response duration. Initial response was included in multivariate analysis A, and best response was included in multivariate analysis B.