T cell exhaustion markers in hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma: Expression patterns and prognostic significance in an Egyptian cohort

Table 5 Correlations with disease severity in hepatocellular carcinoma patients

Parameter	MELD		Child-Pugh		AFP		BCLC stage
	r1	P value	r1	P value	r1	P value	r1	P value
CD4/PD-1 (%)	-0.730	< 0.001a	0.855	< 0.001a	0.750	< 0.001a	0.855	< 0.001a
CD8/PD-1 (%)	-0.738	< 0.001a	0.855	< 0.001a	0.752	< 0.001a	0.855	< 0.001a
CD4/TIGIT (%)	-0.764	< 0.001a	0.857	< 0.001a	0.758	< 0.001a	0.856	< 0.001a
CD8/TIGIT (%)	-0.764	< 0.001a	0.856	< 0.001a	0.756	< 0.001a	0.856	< 0.001a
CD4/TIM-3 (%)	-0.764	< 0.001a	0.858	< 0.001a	0.759	< 0.001a	0.858	< 0.001a
CD8/TIM-3 (%)	-0.764	< 0.001a	0.835	< 0.001a	0.745	< 0.001a	0.835	< 0.001a
CD3 (%)	-0.765	< 0.001a	0.837	< 0.001a	0.748	< 0.001a	0.837	< 0.001a
CD4 (%)	-0.756	< 0.001a	0.830	< 0.001a	0.746	< 0.001a	0.830	< 0.001a
CD8 (%)	-0.751	< 0.001a	0.835	< 0.001a	0.749	< 0.001a	0.835	< 0.001a
CD4/CD8 ratio	0.745	< 0.001a	-0.844	< 0.001a	-0.749	< 0.001a	-0.840	< 0.001a

¹r: Pearson correlation coefficient for normally distributed variables (CD4/programmed death 1, CD8/ programmed death 1, CD4/T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain, CD8/T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain, CD4/T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3, CD8/T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3, CD3, CD4, CD8, CD4/CD8 ratio, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease); Spearman correlation coefficient for non-normally distributed variables (alpha-fetoprotein, Child-Pugh class, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage). Correlations adjusted for age and sex using partial correlation to control for demographic confounders.

^aP < 0.001.

Etiology controlled by study design (hepatitis C virus genotype 4 for hepatocellular carcinoma patients, confirmed by quantitative hepatitis C virus polymerase chain reaction targeting 5’ untranslated region). PD-1: Programmed death 1; TIGIT: T-cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain; TIM-3: T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3; MELD: Model for End-Stage Liver Disease; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; BCLC: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer.