Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma that die during the first year of liver transplantation have high blood sFasL concentrations

Table 1 Clinical and biochemical characteristics of one-year liver transplantation survivor and non-survivor patients

	1 yr survivor patients, (n = 113)	1 yr non-survivor patients, (n = 14)	P value
Serum sFasL (pg/mL) - median (p 25-75)	85 (44-382)	477 (269-496)	< 0.001
Age of liver donor (yr) - median (p 25-75)	52 (35-64)	62 (49-73)	0.049
Age of liver recipient (yr) - median (p 25-75)	59 (52-62)	56 (53-62)	0.88
Serum alpha-fetoprotein (ng/dL) - median (p 25-75)	8 (4-37)	13 (5-180)	0.36
MELD score - median (p 25-75)	15 (12-18)	16 (14-18)	0.78
Nodules size (cm) - median (p 25-75)	3.0 (2.0-3.5)	2.8 (1.6-4.3)	0.94
Protein (g/dL) - median (p 25-75)	6.7 (6.0-7.1)	6.7 (5.7-7.7)	0.83
Leukocytes (count/mm3) - median (p 25-75)	4800 (3590-6200)	4940 (3490-7920)	0.60
Albumin (g/dL) - median (p 25-75)	3.3 (2.9-4.1)	3.3 (2.9-4.2)	0.91
Creatinine (mg/dL) - median (p 25-75)	0.9 (0.8-1.1)	1.0 (0.8-1.1)	0.43
BMI (kg/m2) - median (p 25-75)	27.6 (24.5-30.0)	28.1 (23.1-31.1)	0.80
Gender female - n (%)	18 (15.9)	0	0.11
Portal hypertension - n (%)	77 (68.1)	10 (71.4)	0.80
Child-Pugh score - n (%)			0.47
A	53 (46.9)	9 (64.3)
B	34 (30.1)	3 (21.4)
C	26 (23.0)	2 (14.3)
Multinodular tumor- n (%)	33 (29.2)	5 (35.7)	0.62
Macrovascular invasion - n (%)	7 (6.2)	0	0.34
Microvascular invasion - n (%)	26 (23.0)	3 (21.4)	0.89
Infiltration - n (%)	38 (33.6)	3 (21.4)	0.36
Inside Milan criteria previously to LT - n (%)	108 (95.6)	13 (92.9)	0.65
Inside Milan criteria after LT - n (%)	97 (85.8)	10 (71.4)	0.16
Treatment previously to LT - n (%)	62 (54.9)	10 (71.4)	0.24
Transplantation technique – n (%)			0.63
By-pass	41 (36.3)	6 (42.9)
Piggy back	72 (63.7)	8 (57.1)
Degree of tumor differentiation – n (%)			0.51
Well	83 (73.5)	11 (78.6)
Moderate	27 (23.9)	2 (14.3)
Poor	3 (2.7)	1 (7.1)

MELD: Model for end-stage liver disease; BMI: Body mass index; sFasL: Soluble FasL.

Table 2 Logistic regression analysis for the variables associated with one-year liver transplantation mortality

	Odds ratio	95% confidence interval	P value
Age of liver donor (age)	1.044	1.001-1.088	0.045
Serum sFasL levels (pg/mL)	1.006	1.003-1.010	0.001

sFasL: Soluble FasL.