Is inconsistency of α-fetoprotein level a good prognosticator for hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence?

Table 2 Cox regression analysis of outcome for clinical parameters of HCC patients after curative liver resection

	Univariate analysis			Multivariate analysis
	RR	95% CI	P	RR	95% CI	P
Age (yr) > 50/ ≤ 50	1.023	0.532-1.968	0.95
Gender (M/F)	0.640	0.325-1.262	0.20
Tumor size (cm) > 5/ ≤ 5	0.444	0.230-0.856	0.02	0.836	0.404-1.729	0.63
ALT (U/L) > 40/ ≤ 40	0.929	0.471-1.831	0.83
T Bil (mg/dL) > 1.2/ ≤ 1.2	0.357	0.175-0.730	0.005	0.430	0.159-1.168	0.10
Albumin (g/dL) > 3.5/ ≤ 3.5	1.674	0.867-3.232	0.13
Plat (103/μL) > 10/ ≤ 10	1.600	0.808-3.169	0.18
Vessel invasion (–/+)	0.470	0.228-0.969	0.04	0.251	0.096-0.658	0.005
Tumor number (S/M)	1.073	0.556-2.070	0.83
Child B/A	0.372	0.182-0.759	0.007	0.452	0.153-1.339	0.15
HBV (-/+)	0.598	0.262-1.363	0.22
HCV (-/+)	1.514	0.688-3.334	0.30
Cirrhosis (-/+)	0.885	0.452-1.734	0.72
Group I reference			0.005			0.04
II/I	0.371	0.162-0.846	0.02	2.142	0.569-7.000	0.02
III/I	0.318	0.144-0.700	0.004	0.582	0.254-3.033	0.12
AFP (op) (ng/dL) > 200/ ≤ 200	0.048	0.000-14 716.4	0.64
AFP (recur) (ng/dL) > 200/ ≤ 200	0.341	0.177-0.653	0.001	0.851	0.301-1.389	0.45
Recur interval (mo) > 12/ ≤ 12	2.550	1.265-5.145	0.009	2.438	1.112-5.348	0.03
Path grade I reference			0.42
II/I	0.821	0.376-1.795	0.62
III/I	0.504	0.197-1.291	0.15

Path grade I, II, III: Histopathologic grade of HCC. I: Well differentiated; II: Moderately differentiated; and III: Poor or undifferentiated.