Table 1. Correlation between miR-148a levels and clinico-pathological characteristics in human primary HCC specimens.

miR-148a expression
	low (n=30)	high (n=29)	p-value
Age Mean ± SD	52.8±10.05	56.1±11.02	0.4701
Gender Male Female	24 6	18 11	0.1282
Tumor size (cm) ≤5 >5	16 14	19 10	0.3412
Tumor stage* TNM I TNM II-III	10 20	24 5	<0.001**2
Vascular invasion No Yes	13 17	27 2	<0.001**3
Satellite nodule No Yes	27 3	27 2	0.6693
E-S grade (MC) I-II III- IV	20 10	24 5	0.1562
AFP (ng/ml) ≤20 >20	7 23	18 11	0.003**2
Etiology HBV HCV Alcohol Idiopathic	25 1 1 3	22 2 2 3	0.7593

¹modified AJCC

²p<0.01,

¹Student's t- test,

²Chi-square test,

³Fisher's exact test

Abbreviation: AFP, α-fetoprotein; AJCC, American Joint Committee on Cancer; HBV, hepatitis B virus;