Table 4.

Correlation between serum miRNA-122a and known risk factors for HCC

HCC risk factors	Group	n	miRNA-122aa	P valueb
Age, years	40–60	51	0.59 ± 1.33	0.987
	<40 or >60	34	0.60 ± 1.35
Sex	Male	70	0.44 ± 1.34	0.018
	Female	15	1.32 ± 0.98
Smoking status	Ever/current	35	0.30 ± 1.27	0.083
	Never	50	0.80 ± 1.34
Alcohol consumption	Ever/current	28	0.45 ± 1.32	0.503
	Never	57	0.66 ± 1.34
Cirrhosis	Yes	47	0.65 ± 1.25	0.676
	No	38	0.53 ± 1.43
Family history of HCC	Yes	4	0.58 ± 1.28	0.069
	No	81	0.65 ± 1.31
HBV	Positive	75	0.49 ± 1.25	0.054
	Negative	10	1.35 ± 1.70
AFP	Positive	67	0.55 ± 1.28	0.572
	Negative	18	0.75 ± 1.53

Notes:

^aMean ± standard deviation of ΔCt miRNA-122a;

^bindependent samples test.

Abbreviations: AFP, alfa-fetoprotein; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma.