Competing risk analysis on outcome after hepatic resection of hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhotic patients

Figure 2 Comparison between the predicted average risk of dying for liver failure (rows) and for tumour recurrence (columns) within the first 5 years after surgery, resulting from the competing-risk regression model. The average risks reported derive from: (1) the calculation of the area under the curves (AUC) of the risk of dying from liver failure and from tumour recurrence over time, predicted by the competing-risk model of Table 3; and (2) the division of the obtained AUCs by the time-period considered (5 years). Comparison between these two distinct risks is reported as effect size: values < |0.1| indicated very small differences between the means; values between |0.1| and |0.3| indicated small differences, values between |0.3| and |0.5| indicated moderate differences, and values > |0.5| indicated considerable differences. When the risk of dying of liver failure after resection is greater than that of dying from tumour relapse, effect size returns negative values (dark grey cells).