The univariate RFS analysis showed that cases with tumor diameter > 4 cm (HR: 2.05, 95% CI 1.11 to 3.78, P = 0.019), AFP ≥ 400 ng/ml (HR: 2.50, 95% CI 1.37 to 4.54, P = 0.002) or CA199 ≥ 37 U/ml (HR: 2.23, 95% CI 1.12 to 4.42, P = 0.020) had a higher recurrence rate, while there was no significant correlation between patient gender, nationality, age, BMI, HBsAg, liver cirrhosis or postoperative adjuvant transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and HCC RFS (all P > 0.05) (Table 4). Here, AFP is linked to cirrhosis of liver.