Table 1. Correlation analysis between miR-99a expression and clinical pathological characteristics.
| Variable |
miR-99a subgroupa |
χ2 | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | High | |||
| All cases | 111 | 41 | ||
| Age (year), >50:⩽50 | 53:58 | 18:23 | 0.178 | 0.673 |
| Gender, male:female | 90:21 | 33:8 | 0.007 | 0.934 |
| AFP (μg/l), >20:⩽20 | 75:36 | 22:18 | 2.022 | 0.155 |
| Serum bilirubin (μmol/l), >17:⩽17 | 31:80 | 7:34 | 1.881 | 0.17 |
| Serum albumin (g/l), >40:⩽40 | 84:27 | 30:11 | 0.100 | 0.752 |
| ALT (U/l), >40: ⩽40 | 47:64 | 16:25 | 0.136 | 0.712 |
| HBs antigen, positive:negative | 84:27 | 34:7 | 0.907 | 0.341 |
| HBe antigen, positive:negative | 33:78 | 13:28 | 0.055 | 0.814 |
| Tumor size (cm), >5:⩽5 | 53:58 | 22:19 | 0.418 | 0.518 |
| Tumor number, single:multiple | 75:36 | 32:9 | 1.578 | 0.209 |
| Encapsulation, complete:no | 60:51 | 18:23 | 1.235 | 0.266 |
| Liver cirrhosis, with:without | 89:22 | 25:16 | 5.889 | 0.015* |
| Differentiation, I+II:III+IV | 29:82 | 23:18 | 11.950 | 0.001* |
| Microvascular invasion, yes:no | 26:85 | 8:33 | 0.264 | 0.608 |
| TNM stage, I:II:III | 39:31:41 | 21:11:9 | 4.019 | 0.134 |
| BCLC stage, A:B:C | 33:59:19 | 19:19:3 | 4.673 | 0.097 |
Abbreviations: AFP, α-fetoprotein; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; BCLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; HBe, hepatitis Be; HBs, hepatitis B surface; TNM, tumor node metastasis.
Data are expressed as ratios.
*P<0.05 by χ2 test.
a
The relative quantitative expression level was used. Low expression of miR-99a in 111 patients was classified as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)/nontumor ratio of ⩽0.5. High miR-99a expression in 41 patients was classified as HCC/nontumor ratio of >0.5.