Table 2.

Clinicopathologic associations with VETC-positive HCCs.

Category	Feature associated with VETC
Tumour burden	Tumour size >5 cm Higher tumour number/multiplicity More intrahepatic and lung metastases More advanced stage: BCLC, TNM, AJCC Outside of established LT listing criteria
Laboratory	AST >40 U/L Higher tumour markers in serum: AFP, DCP, PIVKA-II
Radiology	Increased tumour size Irregular rim-like enhancement Intratumoural necrosis Various MRI quantitative features not consistent across all studies
Histology	Poorly differentiated (Edmondson grade III-IV) Reduced inflammatory (T cell) infiltration PD-L1 positivity Increased microvascular density Microvascular invasion Macrotrabecular and MTM pattern

AFP, α-fetoprotein; AJCC, American Joint Committee on Cancer; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; BCLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; DCP, des-γ-carboxy prothrombin; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; MTM, macrotrabecular massive; PD-L1, programmed death-ligand 1; PIVKA-II, protein induced by vitamin K absence II; VETC, vessels that encapsulate tumour clusters.