title: Prognostic value of marital status on stage at diagnosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Marital status have been found as an independent prognostic factor for survival and spousal support could provide a survival advantage in various cancer types. However, the specific effect of marital status on survival in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been explored in detail. In this study, we used the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program to identify iagnosed with HCC between 1988 and 2007. Kaplan-Meier methods and multivariable Cox regression models were used to analyze long-term cancer-specific survival (CSS) outcomes and risk factors stratified by marital status. There were significant differences among these different marital status subgroups with regard to 5-year CSS rates (P < 0.001). Married HCC patients had a better 5 year CSS rate than those unmarried patients, and widowed patients were more likely to die of their cancer. A stratified analysis showed that widowed patients always had the lowest CSS rate across different cancer stage, age and gender subgroups. Even after adjusting for known confounders, unmarried patients were at greater risk of cancer-specific mortality. Social support aimed at this population could improve the likelihood of achieving cure.
authors.affiliation: Liver Transplantation Center of the First Affiliated Hospital and State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China.|Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wenjie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Liver Transplantation Center of the First Affiliated Hospital and State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaochen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Liver Transplantation Center of the First Affiliated Hospital and State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ruyi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Liver Transplantation Center of the First Affiliated Hospital and State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Kangpeng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Liver Transplantation Center of the First Affiliated Hospital and State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Guangyan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhangyuan
authors.affiliation: Liver Transplantation Center of the First Affiliated Hospital and State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Liver Transplantation Center of the First Affiliated Hospital and State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Liver Transplantation Center of the First Affiliated Hospital and State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zekuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Liver Transplantation Center of the First Affiliated Hospital and State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Beicheng
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018426:SEER Program; D047368:Tumor Burden