Folate receptor-positive circulating tumor cells might function as potential biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 3 Univariate analysis of disease-free survival time

Factors		Univariate analysis
		HR (95%CI)	Significance
CTC level	> 12.9	Reference1
	< 12.9	0.057 (0.016-0.201)	< 0.01b
Extrahepatic metastasis	No	Reference1
	Yes	4.953 (1.118-21.94)	0.031a
Tumor number	Multiple	Reference1
	Single	0.25 (0.096-0.65)	0.004b
Tumor diameter	> 5 cm	Reference1
	< 5 cm	0.44 (0.17-1.10)	0.0812
BCLC stage	A	Reference1
	B	2.604 (0.95-7.18)	0.064
	C	4.978 (1.001-24.75)	0.049a
Satellite	Yes	Reference1
	No	1.043 (0.6572-1.656)	0.858
Differentiation	High	Reference1
	Mediate	1.256 (0.1403-11.25)	0.458
	Low	2.213 (0.27-18.03)	0.838
Age	< 50	Reference1
	> 50	0.512 (0.1674-1.55)	0.237
AFP	> 400	Reference1
	< 400	0.57 (0.22-1.48)	0.25
Sex	Male	Reference1
	Female	0.55 (0.17-1.662)	0.287
Vascular invasion	Yes	Reference1
	No	1.132 (0.4-3.178)	0.814

^aP < 0.05.

^bP < 0.01.

¹Reference group.

CTC: Circulating tumor cells; BCLC: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; HR: Hazard ratio; CI: Confidence interval.