The multivariate cox analysis indicated that higher age, sex (male), being unmarried, higher T stage, higher N stage, no surgery, no chemotherapy, larger tumor size, elevated AFP, higher fibrosis score, bone metastasis, lung metastasis, and higher grade were all independently associated with poor OS of HCC patients, as shown in Table 2 and Fig. 1. Here, AFP is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.