Histologic stage is an ordinal categorical variable coded as 1-4 (higher values meaning more advanced progression of disease). Suppose this is initially modeled as a semi continuous variable in a Cox regression:

ln(h : ) = ln j45()l + 0.82-, where x1= histologic stage (1-4). The standard error of the slope for x1 is 0.12.

Based on these results, what is the estimated hazard ratio of death for patient with a histologic stage of 4 compared with a histologic stage of 1?

a) 2.26

b) 6.78

c) 11.50