Table 1.
Clinical characteristics of the enrolled participants.
| Clinical characteristics | Hepatitis (n = 46) | LC (n = 79) | HCC (n = 70) | p-values (hepatitis vs. HCC) | p-values (LC vs. HCC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (year) | 47.0 (13.5) | 51.0 (12.3) | 56.0 (9.7) | <0.001 | 0.011 |
| Gender | |||||
| Female | 22 (47.8%) | 17 (21.5%) | 16 (22.9%) | 0.005 | 0.844 |
| Male | 24 (52.2%) | 62 (78.5%) | 54 (77.1%) | ||
| Aetiological factors | |||||
| Viral hepatitis (HBV/HCV) | 20 (43.4%) | 63 (79.8%) | 63 (90.0%) | <0.001 | 0.084 |
| Non-viral hepatitis | 26 (56.5%) | 16 (20.3%) | 7 (10.0%) | ||
| AFP (0–8.87 ng/mL) | 300.6 (1142.7) | 34.1 (102.1) | 27591.6 (107446.3) | 0.027 | 0.010 |
| PIVKA-II (0–40 mAU/mL) | 46.1 (78.4) | 71.6 (374.4) | 13968.9 (25422.4) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| HIST1H3G (ΔCt value) | 12.0 (5.1) | 13.0 (4.6) | 5.7 (5.3) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Tumor size (cm) | |||||
| ≤3 | — | — | 40 (57.1%) | ||
| 3–5 | — | — | 30 (42.9%) | ||
| No. of tumor | |||||
| Single | — | — | 29 (41.4%) | ||
| Multiple | — | — | 41 (58.6%) | ||
| BCLC stage | |||||
| A | — | — | 28 (40.0%) | ||
| B | — | — | 17 (24.3%) | ||
| C | — | — | 25 (35.7%) | ||
| Cirrhosis | |||||
| Yes | 0 (0%) | 79 (100%) | 66 (94.3%) | ||
| No | 46 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 4 (5.7%) | ||
| ALT (<40 U/L) | 212.8 (295.8) | 56.4 (104.3) | 43.0 (43.0) | 0.001 | 0.657 |
| AST (<40 U/L) | 168.1 (173.1) | 84.3 (134.8) | 69.3 (66.9) | 0.002 | 0.766 |
| TBIL (μmol/L) | 79.6 (109.7) | 70.4 (100.1) | 30.7 (63.3) | 0.024 | 0.012 |
| TP (g/L) | 64.0 (7.3) | 62.2 (6.9) | 64.3 (6.9) | 0.805 | 0.069 |
| Alb (35–55 g/L) | 37.5 (5.4) | 34.4 (6.0) | 36.0 (5.7) | 0.164 | 0.085 |
| Hb (120–160) | 151.6 (149.6) | 112.9 (22.9) | 126.6 (19.5) | 0.079 | 0.265 |
| PLT (83–303 × 109/L) | 181.8 (73.6) | 96.8 (65.0) | 135.8 (73.5) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| NLR | 2.3 (2.8) | 2.7 (2.2) | 3.7 (3.2) | 0.012 | 0.019 |
| PT (9–14 s) | 13.2 (5.8) | 15.8 (4.6) | 13.4 (2.0) | 0.996 | 0.000 |
| Blood ammonia (16–60 μmol/L) | 44.4 (21.8) | 46.9 (23.9) | 48.9 (26.0) | 0.330 | 0.619 |
LC, liver cirrhosis; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus; AFP, alpha-fetoprotein; PIVKA-II, protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist-II; BCLC stage, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; TBIL, total bilirubin; TP, total protein; Alb, albumin; Hb, hemoglobin; PLT, platelet; NLR, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio; PT, prothrombin time.