Table 1. Patient characteristics at baseline.
| Number of patients(≤44 and >44 groups) | Number of patients (≤44 group) | Number of patients (>44 group) | P-value | ||
| Overall cohort | 1,541 (100%) | 778 (50.5%) | 763 (49.5%) | – | |
| Age | Mean±SEM | 44.8±21.9 | 25.5±9.5 | 64.5±10.4 | – |
| Median | 44 | 25 | 65 | ||
| Range | [0–89] | [0–44] | [45–89] | ||
| Sex | Male | 942 (61.1%) | 520 (66.8%) | 422 (55.3%) | |
| Female | 599 (38.9%) | 258 (33.2%) | 341 (44.7%) | ||
| Total | 1,541 (100%) | 778 (100%) | 763 (100%) | <0.0001* | |
| Tumor grade † | G1 | 47 (13.7%) | 22 (14.3%) | 25 (13.2%) | |
| G2 | 226 (65.7%) | 86 (55.8%) | 140 (73.7%) | ||
| G3 | 71 (20.6%) | 46 (29.9%) | 25 (13.2%) | ||
| Total | 344 (100%) | 154 (100%) | 190 (100%) | 0.037** | |
| Cirrhosis | Yes | 163 (11%) | 38 (5.1%) | 125 (17.1%) | |
| No | 1,316 (89%) | 709 (94.9%) | 607 (82.9%) | ||
| Total | 1,479 (100%) | 747 (100%) | 732 (100%) | <0.0001* | |
| Hepatitis B | Yes | 453 (50.1%) | 365 (71%) | 88 (22.5%) | |
| No | 452 (49.9%) | 149 (29%) | 303 (77.5%) | ||
| Total | 905 (100%) | 514 (100%) | 391 (100%) | <0.0001* | |
| Hepatitis C | Yes | 29 (4.7%) | 9 (2.7%) | 20 (6.8%) | |
| No | 593 (95.3%) | 319 (97.3%) | 273 (93.2%) | ||
| Total | 622 (100%) | 328 (100%) | 293 (100%) | 0.021* | |
| Hepatitis B+C | Yes | 8 (1.4%) | 5 (1.6%) | 3 (1.1%) | |
| No | 583 (98.6%) | 301 (98.4%) | 282 (98.9%) | ||
| Total | 591 (100%) | 306 (100%) | 285 (100%) | NS* | |
| Nodule(s) | = 1 | 450 (41.4%) | 246 (38.3%) | 204 (45.8%) | |
| >1 | 638 (58.6%) | 397 (61.7%) | 241 (54.2%) | ||
| Total | 1,088 (100%) | 643 (100%) | 445 (100%) | 0.015* | |
| Metastasis | Yes | 430 (30.1%) | 244 (33.3%) | 186 (26.7%) | |
| No | 1,000 (69.9%) | 489 (66.7%) | 511 (73.3%) | ||
| Total | 1,430 (100%) | 733 (100%) | 697 (100%) | 0.007* | |
| Operation | Yes | 298 (19.3%) | 159 (20.4%) | 139 (18.2%) | |
| No | 1,243 (80.7%) | 619 (79.6%) | 624 (81.8%) | ||
| Total | 1,541 (100%) | 778 (100%) | 763 (100%) | NS* | |
| Recurrence ‡ | Yes | 132 (44.7%) | 76 (48.7%) | 56 (40.3%) | |
| No | 163 (55.3%) | 80 (51.3%) | 83 (59.7%) | ||
| Total | 295 (100%) | 156 (100%) | 139 (100%) | NS* |
≤44 and >44 groups are defined as patients below or equal age 44 and those above age 44, respectively. Mean values are presented with ± standard errors of the means (SEM). Percentages are expressed as ratio of the total patient population for the considered parameter. P-values were obtained by exact simple (*) or multinomial (**) logistic regression analysis, modelling the specific outcomes with age (≤44 groups vs. >44 group) after geographical and seasonal adjustments. NS: not significant.
Tumor grades were defined as follow: well differentiated (G1), moderately differentiated (G2), and poorly differentiated (G3).
The data on recurrence are presented for patients who developed a new HCC within the following 12 months after surgical intervention.