Kaplan-Meier survival curves for patients classified by the staging system of Bataille et al.20The drawn line represents high syndecan-1 levels (≥ 1170 units/mL), and the dotted line represents low syndecan-1 levels (< 1170 units/mL). Open circles (ο) represent censored patients. Panels A, B, and C depict the high and low levels of syndecan-1 for patients classified by Bataille: (A) Stadium 1: CRP  < 6 mg/L and β₂-microglobulin < 6 mg/L; high levels (n = 64) were separated from low levels (n = 21), P = 0.10. (B) Stadium 2: CRP ≥ 6 mg/L or β₂-microglobulin ≥ 6 mg/L; high levels (n = 33) were separated from low levels (n = 20),P = 0.003. (C) Stadium 3: CRP ≥ 6 mg/L and β₂-microglobulin ≥ 6 mg/L; high levels (n = 14) were separated from low levels (n = 14), P = 0.05.