Table 2.
Comparison of clinicopathological characteristics between patients who had developed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and those who had not developed HCC at follow-up.
| Overall | Female | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patients who had developed HCC at follow-up | Patients who had not developed HCC at follow-up | P | Patients who had developed HCC at follow-up | Patients who had not developed HCC at follow-up | P | |
| Number of patients | 13 | 166 | 11 | 144 | ||
| Number of male patients | 2 | 22 | 0.687 | NA | NA | NA |
| Age of Dx of PBC (years)* | 63 (46–77) | 56 (22–85) | 0.072 | 63 (46–77) | 56 (24–85) | 0.049 |
| PBC Stage at Dx of PBC (I/II/III/IV) | 2/4/3/4 | 99/38/16/13 | 0.004 | 2/3/3/3 | 86/34/14/10 | 0.011 |
| Number of symptomatic patients | 8 | 45 | 0.022 | 7 | 42 | 0.037 |
| Pruritus | 4 | 33 | 0.474 | 4 | 32 | 0.282 |
| Jaundice | 1 | 8 | 0.501 | 1 | 6 | 0.409 |
| Ascites | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Varices | 5 | 12 | 0.003 | 4 | 11 | 0.013 |
| Biochemical data | ||||||
| AST (IU/L)* | 78 (30–231) | 46 (16–258) | 0.088 | 77 (30–231) | 46 (16–258) | 0.15 |
| ALT (IU/L)* | 51 (22–319) | 45 (10–329) | 0.644 | 47.5 (22–319) | 41 (10–329) | 0.761 |
| ALP (IU/L)* | 402.5 (175–1185) | 543.5 (94–2985) | 0.314 | 402.5 (175–1185) | 543.5 (112–2985) | 0.489 |
| γGTP (IU/L)* | 174.5 (16–470) | 173.5 (13–1349) | 0.285 | 114 (16–470) | 173.5 (13–1004) | 0.181 |
| lgG (mg/dL)* | 2165 (1030–4532) | 1655 (778–3900) | 0.021 | 2165 (1030–4532) | 1660 (778–3900) | 0.049 |
| lgM (mg/dL)* | 405 (136–918) | 351.5 (48–1660) | 0.364 | 359.5 (136–918) | 336 (48–1660) | 0.352 |
| Alb (g/dL)* | 3.7 (1.9–4.6) | 4.2 (2.0–5.1) | 0.016 | 4.0 (1.9–4.6) | 4.2 (2.0–5.0) | 0.085 |
| T-Bil (mg/dL)* | 0.7 (0.3–2.5) | 0.7 (0.1–6.3) | 0.925 | 0.7 (0.3–2.5) | 0.7 (0.1–6.3) | 0.888 |
| Plt (×104/μL)* | 12.4 (5.3–24.4) | 21.4 (5.3–58.1) | 0.001 | 12.3 (5.3–21.8) | 21.0 (5.3–48.6) | 0.001 |
| PT (%)* | 96.5 (57.0–117.0) | 100.9 (44.0–139.0) | 0.204 | 93.0 (57.0–117.0) | 100.9 (44.0–139.0) | 0.123 |
| ANA positive | 7 | 106 | 0.658 | 6 | 98 | 0.579 |
| Brinkman index* | 0 (0–400) | 0 (0–1575) | 0.175 | 0 (0-0) | 0 (0–940) | 0.12 |
| Number of patients with a history of blood transfusion | 3 | 20 | 0.415 | 3 | 17 | 0.285 |
| Number of patients with a history of drinking | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| Number of patients with a familial history of malignancy | 3 | 61 | 0.359 | 2 | 56 | 0.261 |
| Number of patients with a familial history of liver disease | 1 | 25 | 0.764 | 0 | 24 | 0.337 |
| Number of patients with DM | 2 | 17 | 0.632 | 2 | 14 | 0.317 |
| Number of patients with HT | 5 | 27 | 0.059 | 4 | 22 | 0.09 |
| Number of patients with HL | 3 | 40 | 1 | 3 | 34 | 0.725 |
| Number of patients with autoimmune disease | 5 | 53 | 0.759 | 5 | 51 | 0.528 |
| Sjogren's syndrome | 2 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 24 | 1 |
| Hashimoto's disease | 3 | 15 | 0.128 | 3 | 15 | 0.12 |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 1 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| Scleroderma | 0 | 15 | 0.606 | 0 | 15 | 0.602 |
| Systemic lupus erythematosus | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| BMI* | 24.3 (13.8–27.4) | 22.6 (14.3–33.1) | 0.341 | 24.3 (15.8–27.4) | 22.6 (16.0–32.5) | 0.536 |
| Number of patients with medications | ||||||
| UDCA/BF/UDCA + BF/none | 13/0/0/0 | 131/1/29/5 | 0.388 | 11/0/0/0 | 116/1/22/5 | 0.512 |
| Number of patients with biochemical response to UDCA and of those with medications | ||||||
| Responder/non-responder/BF only/no medication (Rotterdam†) |
11/2/0/0 | 141/19/1/5 | 0.911 | 9/2/0/0 | 123/15/1/5 | 0.696 |
| Responder/non-responder/BF only/no medication (Barcelona†) |
9/4/0/0 | 80/80/1/5 | 0.701 | 7/4/0/0 | 67/71/1/5 | 0.816 |
| Responder/non-responder/BF only/no medication (Paris†) |
12/1/0/0 | 134/26/1/5 | 0.832 | 10/1/0/0 | 119/19/1/5 | 0.905 |
| Responder/non-responder/BF only/no medication (Toronto†) |
11/2/0/0 | 130/30/1/5 | 0.914 | 9/2/0/0 | 113/25/1/5 | 0.928 |
| Modalities (US/CT/MRI/US-CT‡/US-MRI‡/CT-MRI‡/US-CT-MRI‡) | 12/0/0/1/0/0/0 | 129/10/0/22/3/1/1 | 0.96 | 10/0/0/1/0/0/0 | 114/7/0/18/3/1/1 | 0.985 |
| HCC screening interval (months) | 9 (6–12) | 6 (6–12) | 0.435 | 12 (6–12) | 6 (6–12) | 0.413 |
*Data expressed as median (range); Alb: albumin; ALP: alkaline phosphatase; AMA: anti-mitochondrial antibody; ANA: antinuclear antibody; ALT: alanine aminotransferase; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; BF: bezafibrate; BMI: body mass index; CT: computer tomography; DM: diabetes mellitus; Dx: diagnosis; γ-GTP: γ-glutamyltranspeptidase; HCC: hepatocellular carcinoma; HT: hypertension; HL: hyperlipidemia; MRI: magnetic resonance imaging; NA: not applcable; PBC: primary biliary cirrhosis; Plt: platelet; PT: prothrombin time; T-Bil: total bilirubin; UDCA: ursodeoxycholic acid; US: ultrasonography. †Responses were defined as biochemical response to UDCA according to the Barcelona, Paris, Rotterdam, and Toronto definitions. ‡These modalities were alternately applied to the patients.