Table 4.
Associations of liver function biomarkers with the risk of incident liver cancer (N = 356,894)
| Liver function biomarker | HR (95% CI) for per 10-unit increase | HR (95% CI) according to liver function biomarkers concentration in quartiles | P trend | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | |||
| ALT (U/L) | 1.17 (1.15, 1.20) | 1 (Reference) | 0.74 (0.45, 1.21) | 1.26 (0.82, 1.94) | 3.25 (2.18, 4.84) | < 0.001 |
| AST (U/L) | 1.20 (1.18, 1.22) | 1 (Reference) | 0.67 (0.40, 1.10) | 0.99 (0.63, 1.55) | 3.55 (2.45, 5.15) | < 0.001 |
| TBIL (μmol//L) | 1.69 (1.47, 1.93) | 1 (Reference) | 0.93 (0.64, 1.37) | 1.03 (0.71, 1.50) | 1.68 (1.18, 2.38) | 0.001 |
| GGT (U/L) | 1.06 (1.06, 1.07) | 1 (Reference) | 0.95 (0.54, 1.67) | 1.33 (0.79, 2.26) | 5.17 (3.22, 8.32) | < 0.001 |
| ALP (U/L) | 1.08 (1.07, 1.09) | 1 (Reference) | 0.87 (0.58, 1.31) | 1.14 (0.78, 1.67) | 2.12 (1.49, 3.00) | < 0.001 |
| TP (g/L) | 1.81 (1.37, 2.39) | 1 (Reference) | 1.36 (0.94, 1.97) | 1.35 (0.93, 1.96) | 2.13 (1.51, 3.01) | < 0.001 |
| ALB (g/L) | 0.29 (0.18, 0.46) | 1 (Reference) | 0.79 (0.58, 1.07) | 0.54 (0.38, 0.77) | 0.66 (0.47, 0.94) | 0.002 |
Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 refer to the 1st (the lowest; < 25th percentile), 2nd (25th ~ 50th percentile), 3rd (50th ~ 75th percentile), and 4th (the highest; ≥ 75th percentile) quartiles of liver function biomarkers
Models were adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, BMI, smoking status, alcohol consumption, healthy diet, physical activity, any treatment/medication taken, Townsend deprivation index, family history of cancer, and CRP
Abbreviations: HR hazard ratio, CI confidence interval, ALT alanine transaminase, AST aspartate transaminase, TBIL total bilirubin, GGT gamma-glutamyl transferase, ALP alkaline phosphatase, TP total protein, ALB albumin
P trend was tested by including the quartile order of liver function biomarkers as a continuous variable in the model