Table 1.
Baseline clinicopathological characteristics
| Variables | Total cohort (N = 2770) |
PACE low-risk (N = 1665) |
PACE intermediate-risk (N = 958) |
PACE high-risk (N = 147) |
P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years, Mean (SD) | 53.2 (11.1) | 54.7 (10.5) | 51.3 (11.4) | 48.2 (11.7) | < 0.001 |
| Gender | |||||
| Female | 425 (15.3%) | 212 (12.7%) | 191 (19.9%) | 22 (15.0%) | < 0.001 |
| Male | 2345 (84.7%) | 1453 (87.3%) | 767 (80.1%) | 125 (85.0%) | |
| Diabetes | 259 (9.4%) | 189 (11.4%) | 61 (6.4%) | 9 (6.1%) | < 0.001 |
| Hypertension | 525 (19.0%) | 333 (20.0%) | 167 (17.4%) | 25 (17.0%) | 0.224 |
| Etiology | |||||
| HBV | 2358 (85.1%) | 1390 (83.5%) | 837 (87.4%) | 131 (89.1%) | 0.012 |
| HCV | 35 (1.3%) | 29 (1.7%) | 6 (0.6%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Non-B, non-C | 370 (13.4%) | 241 (14.5%) | 114 (11.9%) | 15 (10.2%) | |
| HBV, HCV | 7 (0.3%) | 5 (0.3%) | 1 (0.1%) | 1 (0.7%) | |
| Child-Pugh class | |||||
| A | 2564 (92.6%) | 1561 (93.8%) | 878 (91.6%) | 125 (85.0%) | < 0.001 |
| B | 206 (7.4%) | 104 (6.2%) | 80 (8.4%) | 22 (15.0%) | |
| BCLC staging system | |||||
| 0 | 159 (5.7%) | 132 (7.9%) | 27 (2.8%) | 0 (0%) | < 0.001 |
| A | 2158 (77.9%) | 1297 (77.9%) | 753 (78.6%) | 108 (73.5%) | |
| B | 453 (16.4%) | 236 (14.2%) | 178 (18.6%) | 39 (26.5%) | |
| Platelet, Mean (SD), 109/L | 167 (69.8) | 155 (61.9) | 177 (72.2) | 227 (93.7) | < 0.001 |
| Total bilirubin, Mean (SD), umol/L | 15.1 (11.1) | 15.2 (12.2) | 15.0 (9.54) | 15.0 (6.06) | 0.895 |
| Albumin, Mean (SD), g/L | 41.5 (3.89) | 41.8 (3.81) | 41.2 (3.91) | 39.5 (3.92) | < 0.001 |
| AFP, ng/mL | |||||
| < 400 | 1876 (67.7%) | 1665 (100%) | 211 (22.0%) | 0 (0%) | < 0.001 |
| ≥ 400 | 894 (32.3%) | 0 (0%) | 747 (78.0%) | 147 (100%) | |
| CRP, mg/L | |||||
| < 10 | 2412 (87.1%) | 1665 (100%) | 747 (78.0%) | 0 (0%) | < 0.001 |
| ≥ 10 | 358 (12.9%) | 0 (0%) | 211 (22.0%) | 147 (100%) | |
| Tumor number | |||||
| Solitary | 2236 (80.7%) | 1371 (82.3%) | 757 (79.0%) | 108 (73.5%) | 0.008 |
| Multiple | 534 (19.3%) | 294 (17.7%) | 201 (21.0%) | 39 (26.5%) | |
| Tumor diameter, Mean (SD), cm | 6.01 (3.93) | 4.95 (3.11) | 7.02 (4.17) | 11.4 (4.40) | < 0.001 |
| Satellite nodules | 1269 (45.8%) | 699 (42.0%) | 490 (51.1%) | 80 (54.4%) | < 0.001 |
| Tumor differentiation | |||||
| I / II | 323 (11.7%) | 270 (16.2%) | 49 (5.1%) | 4 (2.7%) | < 0.001 |
| III / IV | 2447 (88.3%) | 1395 (83.8%) | 909 (94.9%) | 143 (97.3%) | |
| MVI | 1124 (40.6%) | 586 (35.2%) | 450 (47.0%) | 88 (59.9%) | < 0.001 |
| Tumor capsule | |||||
| Complete | 414 (14.9%) | 292 (17.5%) | 107 (11.2%) | 15 (10.2%) | < 0.001 |
| Incomplete | 1862 (67.2%) | 1089 (65.4%) | 664 (69.3%) | 109 (74.1%) | |
| None | 494 (17.8%) | 284 (17.1%) | 187 (19.5%) | 23 (15.6%) | |
| Liver cirrhosis | 1743 (62.9%) | 1057 (63.5%) | 601 (62.7%) | 85 (57.8%) | 0.391 |
| Extend of hepatectomy | |||||
| Minor | 2268 (81.9%) | 1477 (88.7%) | 715 (74.6%) | 76 (51.7%) | < 0.001 |
| Major | 502 (18.1%) | 188 (11.3%) | 243 (25.4%) | 71 (48.3%) | |
| Intraoperative blood loss, mL | |||||
| < 800 | 2625 (94.8%) | 1611 (96.8%) | 900 (93.9%) | 114 (77.6%) | < 0.001 |
| ≥ 800 | 145 (5.2%) | 54 (3.2%) | 58 (6.1%) | 33 (22.4%) | |
| Intraoperative blood transfusion | 194 (7.0%) | 76 (4.6%) | 80 (8.4%) | 38 (25.9%) | < 0.001 |
| Hepatectomy type | |||||
| Non-anatomical | 1875 (67.7%) | 1137 (68.3%) | 650 (67.8%) | 88 (59.9%) | 0.111 |
| Anatomical | 895 (32.3%) | 528 (31.7%) | 308 (32.2%) | 59 (40.1%) | |
| Resection margin | |||||
| < 1 cm | 1581 (57.1%) | 922 (55.4%) | 563 (58.8%) | 96 (65.3%) | 0.028 |
| ≥ 1 cm | 1189 (42.9%) | 743 (44.6%) | 395 (41.2%) | 51 (34.7%) | |
Abbreviations: PACE, Prognostic implications of Alpha-fetoprotein and C-reactive protein Elevation; AFP, alpha-fetoprotein; CRP, C-reactive protein; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus; PLT, platelet; MVI, microvascular invasion; BCLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; SD, standard deviation