AFP and neoplasm: On subsequent multivariate Cox regression analysis, serum AFP level (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.0, 1.9; p = 0.05), tumor multiplicity (HR = 1.8; 95% CI: 1.2, 2.6; p = 0.003) and TTB (HR = 2.2; 95% CI: 1.6, 3.0; p < 0.001) were found to be predictive of ER (Table 2).