Table I.
Clinical information of 57 paired HCC samples and the corresponding APC promoter methylation level detected by the MethyLight assay.
| Parameters | Number of cases | PMR of NT (mean ± SEM) | PMR of HCC (mean ± SEM) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 57 | 3.09±0.684 | 11.64±2.236 | 0.0003* |
| Age, years | ||||
| >60 | 12 | 9.62±4.581 | 34.90±9.879 | 0.0438* |
| ≤60 | 45 | 5.22±1.221 | 20.04±4.934 | |
| Gender | ||||
| Male | 49 | 6.88±1.558 | 23.39±4.842 | 0.9000 |
| Female | 8 | 1.64±0.551 | 21.76±11.97 | |
| Tumor size, cm | ||||
| >4 | 8 | 6.85±4.129 | 2.955±1.256 | 0.0008* |
| ≤4 | 49 | 6.03±0.451 | 13.06±2.539 | |
| Tumor embolusa | ||||
| Positive | 21 | 7.20±2.376 | 26.50±6.616 | 0.3305 |
| Negative | 35 | 5.43±1.713 | 21.68±6.091 | |
| Tumor capsulec | ||||
| Complete | 15 | 7.69±4.081 | 26.68±9.332 | 0.8195 |
| Incomplete | 22 | 6.09±0.698 | 29.67±8.660 | |
| TNM stagea | ||||
| I, II | 34 | 4.77±1.725 | 12.84±3.382 | 0.5750 |
| III, IV | 22 | 8.13±2.285 | 10.20±2.523 | |
| Paracirrhosisa | ||||
| Positive | 38 | 4.74±1.165 | 28.22±6.133 | 0.1295 |
| Negative | 18 | 8.94±3.514 | 13.51±4.889 | |
| AFP, μg/lb | ||||
| <20 | 13 | 7.34±3.072 | 23.57±8.308 | 0.7902 |
| 20–400 | 25 | 7.30±2.584 | 25.25±8.272 | |
| >400 | 17 | 3.16±0.746 | 18.05±5.244 | |
Information was missing from aone, btwo and c20 samples. AFP, α-fetoprotein; TNM, tumor-node-metastasis; PMR, percentage of methylation; SEM, standard error of the mean; NT, non-tumor tissue; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; APC, adenomatous polyposis coli.