Additional file 1: Figure S1. of Neuropilin-2 induced by transforming growth factor-β augments migration of hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Correlation of NRP2 expression and TGF-β1 expression in vivo. The tissue array comprising 133 HCC patients was analyzed for TGF-β1 expression and correlated with NRP2 levels. TGF-β1 expression was scored by arbitrary scaling of no, low, medium and high staining as described [37]. (PDF 34 kb

<i>KIR2DS3</i> gene frequency is increased in co-infected patients that fail to achieve SVR.

<p><i>KIR2DS3</i> was genotyped in our cohort by PCR-SSP. The carrier frequency of <i>KIR2DS3</i> in 149 HCV/HIV-1 co-infected treated with peg-IFN and ribavirin was compared in 101 patients who achieved SVR following treatment and 48 patients who did not achieve SVR. Differences in frequency populations were tested for significance by χ² test. Odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals is shown.</p

The <i>IL28B</i> SNP, rs12979860, is associated with HCV treatment response in a cohort of HCV/HIV-1 co-infected patients.

<p>Patients that completed therapy were genotyped for the <i>IL28B</i> SNP (rs12979860) using a Taqman allele discrimination assay. Genotype frequencies were compared between patients who achieved SVR following treatment (n = 101) and those who did not achieve SVR (n = 48). Differences in frequency distribution between groups were tested for significance by a trend test.</p>1<p>Genotype for a subset of these patients, n = 72, has previously been described (Reference 16)</p

The presence of both <i>KIR2DS3</i> and <i>IL28B-T</i> alleles synergise to increase the odds of HCV treatment failure.

<p>ORs for <i>KIR2DS3</i> alone, <i>IL28B-T</i> carriers (CT or TT) alone, and <i>KIR2DS3</i> with <i>IL28B-T</i> compared with neither risk factor present were calculated from multinominal logisitic regression. The contribution of individual and combined risk factors to the ORs is graphically represented in the bar chart. Positive OR indicates an association with increased odds of treatment failure. ^aOdds ratio (95% confidence interval). * adjusted OR including HCV genotype and HAART as co-variates.</p

Main clinical characteristics of the population included in on-treatment analysis.

<p>Patients who completed a course of pegylated-IFN and Ribavirin therapy were included in the SVR analysis. SVR, sustained virological response; VL, viral load; Rx, treatment; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; HAART, highly active antiretroviral therapy; NS, not significant.</p

The <i>IL28B</i> SNP, rs12979860, is associated with RVR in a cohort of HCV/HIV-1 co-infected patients.

<p>Patients were genotyped for the <i>IL28B</i>-associated SNP, rs12979860. Frequencies of the various genotypes were compared between patients that achieved an RVR (n = 61) and those that did not achieve RVR (n = 88) after 4 weeks of treatment. A χ² trend test was used to compare the data.</p

The impact of thyroid hormones on patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

<div><p>Background & aims</p><p>Hypothyroidism has recently been proposed as predisposing factor for HCC development. However, the role of thyroid hormones (TH) in established HCC is largely unclear. We investigated the impact of TH on clinical characteristics and prognosis of HCC patients.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Of 838 patients diagnosed with nonsurgical HCC at the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology/Medical University of Vienna between 1992 and 2012, 667 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The associations of thyroid function tests with patient, liver, and tumor characteristics as well as their impact on overall survival (OS) were investigated.</p><p>Results</p><p>Thyroid hormone substitution was more often observed in patients with low thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) concentration and in patients with elevated free tetraiodthyronine (fT4). Patients with high TSH (>3.77uU/ml) concentrations had larger tumors, while the opposite was true for patients with low TSH (<0.44uU/ml) concentrations. Subjects with elevated fT4 (>1.66ng/dl) were more likely to have elevated CRP. While TSH was only associated with OS in univariate analysis (≤1.7 vs. >1.7uU/ml, median OS (95%CI), 12.3 (8.9–15.7 months) vs. 7.3 months (5.4–9.2 months); p = 0.003), fT₄ (≤1.66 vs. >1.66ng/dl, median OS (95%CI), 10.6 (7.5–13.6 months) vs. 3.3 months (2.2–4.3 months); p = 0.007) remained an independent prognostic factor for OS (HR (95%CI) for fT₄>1.66ng/dl, 2.1 (1.3–3.3); p = 0.002) in multivariate analysis.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>TSH and fT₄ were associated with prognostic factors of HCC (i.e., tumor size, CRP level). Elevated fT₄ concentrations were independently associated with poor prognosis in HCC. Further studies are needed to characterize the role of TH in HCC in detail.</p></div

Multivariate analysis of prognostic factors.

<p>Multivariate analysis of prognostic factors.</p

Patient characteristics.

<p>Patient characteristics.</p

Association between thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and patient, liver, and tumor characteristics (n = 667).

<p>Association between thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and patient, liver, and tumor characteristics (n = 667).</p