Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of patients with and without HCC

	No HCC (n=957)			HCC (n=48)			Cox Proportional Hazards p-value
	N	Mean/%	SD	N	Mean/%	SD
DEMOGRAPHICS
Age	957	50.1	7.1	48	52.7	7.2	0.02
Female	957	29%		48	21%		0.21
Race (White, Black, Hispanic, Other)	957			48			0.34
White-non-Hispanic		72%			63%
Hispanic		8%			6%
Black or black + Hisp*		18%			29%		0.05
Others		2%			2%
METABOLIC FACTORS
BMI	957	30.0	5.5	48	28.3	4.6	0.04
Diabetes mellitus	957	24%		48	27%		0.51
VIRAL FACTORS
Genotype 1	952	94%		48	92%		0.40
Log HCV RNA (IU/mL)	957	6.44	0.52	48	6.39	0.51	0.43
LABS
Hemoglobin, g/dL	957	15.0	1.4	48	14.9	1.4	0.50
WBC x1000/mm3	957	5.8	1.9	48	4.9	1.5	0.001
Platelets x1000/mm3	957	167	66	48	123	49	<.0001
Albumin, g/dL	957	3.9	0.4	48	3.7	0.4	0.0002
AST, U/L	957	86	57	48	118	76	0.0001
ALT, U/L	957	106	76	48	134	109	0.01
Alkaline phosphatase, U/L	957	98	44	48	128	66	<.0001
Total bilirubin, mg/dL	957	0.79	0.4	48	0.85	0.38	0.29
Prothrombin time, INR	957	1.0	0.11	48	1.1	0.09	0.06
SEVERITY OF LIVER DISEASE
AST/ALT ratio	957	0.88	0.29	48	0.96	0.34	0.02
APRI: 100 X [(AST/ULN)/platelets]	957	1.56	1.48	48	2.70	2.13	<.0001
Lok Cirrhosis Score	957	0.40	0.22	48	0.54	0.19	<.0001
CTP score	953	5.20	0.43	48	5.44	0.5	<.0001
MELD score	957	7.04	1.42	48	7.33	1.19	0.14
HCC MARKERS
AFP ng/mL	957	16.89	29.24	48	23.28	28.34	0.22
AFP >=20	957	18%		48	31%		0.03
DCP units/mL	948	45.6	223.86	47	50.54	51.32	0.83
DCP	948			48			0.02
<40*		82%			67%
40–149		15%			25%
>=150		2%			8%
LIVER HISTOLOGY
Cirrhosis on biopsy (Ishak 5–6)	957	40%		48	52%		0.08
PORTAL HYPERTENSION
Esophageal Varices at enrollment	937	24%	0.43	46	50%	0.51	<.0001
TREATMENT ASSIGNMENT
Interferon 90 mcg/week	957	49%		48	48%		0.85
OTHER RISK FACTORS
ALCOHOL USE
Total number of drinks lifetime	955	17719	30147	48	19029	23243	0.55
Average consumption gm/day	955	25.08	39.69	48	25.03	33.43	0.78
SMOKING
Pack years of cigarettes	940	14.62	16.82	48	14.37	13.35	0.79
Ever smoked	957	75%		48	83%		0.13

^*Reference Group

CTP = Child Turcotte Pugh, MELD = Model for End Stage Liver Disease, APRI = AST-platelet ratio index²², Lok cirrhosis score ⁵⁴