Table 1. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the studied population.
| Parameter | Healthy controls (n = 45) | Cirrhosis patients (n = 45) | HCC patients (n = 45) | P | Correlation with disease progression |
| Gender (♂/♀) | 21/24 | 33/12 | 36/9 | <0.01 | |
| Age (years) | 44 ± 3 | 54 ± 2 | 58 ± 2 | <0.001 | r= 0.526, P<0.001 |
| (34-70) | (42-62) | (43-70) | r= 0.480, P<0.001 | ||
| Comma(pre / negative) | Negative | 15/30 | 24/21 | <0.001 | |
| Ascites (moderate/negative) | Negative | 18/27 | 18/27 | <0.001 | r= 0.369, P<0.001 |
| INR | 1.16 ±0.03 | 1.25 ±0.03 | 1.48 ± 0.05 | <0.001 | r= 0.443, P<0.001 |
| ALT (IU/L) | 21.66 ±0.76 | 43.53 ± 2.77 | 67.33 ± 4.88 | <0.001 | r= 0.650, P<0.001 |
| AST(IU/L) | 28.66 ± 1.04 | 68.95 ± 4.48 | 90.08 ± 5.54 | <0.001 | r= 0.679, P<0.001 |
| ALP (IU/L) | 68.46 ±1.59 | 86.66 ± 3.40 | 99.53 ± 4.57 | <0.001 | r= 0.488, P<0.001 |
| Albumin (g/L) | 4.13 ± 0.08 | 2.66 ± 0.11 | 2.78 ± 0.10 | <0.001 | r= -0.615, P<0.001 |
| Bilirubin | |||||
| Total (µmol/L) | 0.94 ± 0.04 | 1.70 ±0.10 | 1.64 ± 0.10 | <0.001 | r= 0.423, P<0.01 |
| Direct (µmol/L) | 0.16 ± 0.01 | 0.75 ± 0.06 | 0.50 ± 0.04 | <0.001 | r= 0.382, P<0.01 |
| HCV | |||||
| Ab | Negative | Positive | Positive | ||
| PCR | Negative | Positive | Positive | ||
| HBsAg | Negative | Negative | Negative |
HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; ALT, alinine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALP, alkaline phosphatase; INR, international normalization ratio; HCV, hepatitis C virus. All data are presented as mean ± standard error (SE). Differences among the 3 groups were compared by ANOVA test.