Combination of squamous cell carcinoma antigen immunocomplex and alpha-fetoprotein in mid- and long-term prediction of hepatocellular carcinoma among cirrhotic patients

Table 3 Predictive discrimination ability of the combination of squamous cell carcinoma antigen immunocomplex and alfa-fetoprotein as compared with squamous cell carcinoma antigen immunocomplex or alfa-fetoprotein alone in both estimation and validation cohorts

Total patients (n = 203)	Combination of SCCA-IgM and AFP (95%CI)	SCCA-IgM (95%CI; P value)	AFP (95%CI; P value)
Estimation cohort (n = 62)
Two-year HCC-free survival	0.787 (0.620-0.955)	0.727 (0.526-0.927; 0.451)	0.705 (0.464-0.946; 0.398)
Five-year HCC-free survival	0.744 (0.613-0.876)	0.686 (0.535-0.837; 0.299)	0.705 (0.539-0.871; 0.581)
Validation cohort (n = 141)
Two-year HCC-free survival	0.773 (0.659-0.887)	0.706 (0.588-0.827; 0.122)	0.748 (0.617-0.880; 0.701)
Five-year HCC-free survival	0.730 (0.648-0.813)	0.706 (0.623-0.788; 0.297)	0.646 (0.548-0.734; 0.067)

C-index values and the corresponding 95% CIs were estimated for each main study time point to assess the model’s discrimination ability. P values represent the statistical significance of the differences between the combination and the squamous cell carcinoma antigen immunocomplex or alfa-fetoprotein alone. AFP: Alfa-fetoprotein; SCCA-IgM: Squamous cell carcinoma antigen and its immune complexes; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma.