Univariate and multivariate analyses of prognostic factors correlated with OS
| Variables | Overall survival | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Training cohort (n = 153) | Validation cohort (n = 65) | |||||
| Univariate P-value | Multivariate P-value | Multivariate HR (95%CI) | Univariate P-value | Multivariate P-value | Multivariate HR (95%CI) | |
| Gender (male vs female) | 0.300 | NA | NA | 0.501 | NA | NA |
| Age, years (> 60 vs ≤ 60) | 0.350 | NA | NA | 0.365 | NA | NA |
| Liver cirrhosis (yes vs no) | 0.209 | NA | NA | 0.077 | NA | NA |
| ALBI grade (2 vs 1) | 0.876 | NA | NA | 0.075 | NA | NA |
| Tumor size, cm (> 5 cm vs ≤ 5) | 0.231 | NA | NA | 0.137 | NA | NA |
| Tumor number (multiple vs single) | < 0.001 | 0.001 | 2.167 (1.375–3.416) | 0.584 | NA | NA |
| MVI (yes vs no) | 0.001 | 0.007 | 1.847 (1.179–2.892) | 0.784 | NA | NA |
| LN metastasis (yes vs no) | < 0.001 | 0.001 | 2.711 (1.534–4.791) | 0.004 | 0.053 | 1.879 (0.993–3.577) |
| Tumor differentiation (III-IV vs I-II) | 0.223 | NA | NA | 0.495 | NA | NA |
| CA19–9,U/L (> 37 vs ≤ 37) | 0.048 | 0.261 | 1.295 (0.825–2.032) | 0.001 | 0.009 | 2.369 (1.242–4.519) |
| CEA, ng/ml (> 5 vs ≤ 5) | 0.239 | NA | NA | 0.001 | 0.109 | 1.735 (0.885–3.401) |
| HHLA2 expression (high vs low) | 0.004 | 0.025 | 1.593 (1.059–2.396) | 0.003 | 0.014 | 2.459 (1.197–5.049) |
| PD-L1 expression (TC ≥5% vs TC < 5%) | 0.859 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| PD-L1 expression (IC ≥1% vs IC < 1%) | 0.489 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| AJCC 8th edition (IIIa-IIIb vs I-II) | < 0.001 | NA | NA | 0.120 | NA | NA |
Abbreviations: HR hazard ratio, CI confidence interval, NA not available, ALBI albumin-bilirubin, MVI microvascular invasion, LN lymph node, CEA carcinoembryonic antigen, TC tumor cells, IC immune cells, AJCC American Joint Committee on Cancer; Variables with strong correlations were not analyzed together in multivariate analyses to avoid confounded results. P-value < 0.05 marked in bold font shows statistical significant