Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population by Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) at the index visit
| Characteristics | BCLC stage | Total (n = 254) | P-valuec | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 (n = 8) | A (n = 76) | B n = 105) | C (n = 48) | D (n = 17) | |||
| Age, years, mean ± SD | 58.7 ± 3.8 | 60.3 ± 7.7 | 63.5 ± 9.4 | 62.3 ± 8.1 | 59.1 ± 7.1 | 61.8 ± 8.5 | 0.06 |
| Male, n (%) | 8 (100%) | 74 (97.4%) | 105 (100%) | 48 (100%) | 17 (100%) | 252 (99.2%) | 0.13 |
| BMI, kg/m2, mean ± SD | 27.6 ± 4.6 | 28.9 ± 5.6 | 28.6 ± 5.8 | 27.9 ± 5.0 | 28.4 ± 7.1 | 28.5 ± 5.6 | 0.94 |
| Ethnicity, n (%) | |||||||
| White | 3 (37.5%) | 43 (56.6%) | 56 (53.3%) | 31 (64.6%) | 9 (52.9%) | 142 (55.9%) | 0.91 |
| African-American | 3 (37.5%) | 18 (23.7%) | 25 (23.8%) | 7 (14.6%) | 4 (23.5%) | 57 (22.4%) | |
| Hispanic | 2 (25.0%) | 11 (14.5%) | 16 (15.2%) | 6 (12.6%) | 2 (11.8%) | 37 (14.6%) | |
| Unknown | 0 | 4 (5.3%) | 8 (7.6%) | 4 (8.3%) | 2 (11.8%) | 18 (7.1%) | |
| Risk factors for HCC, n (%) | |||||||
| Chronic hepatitis C | 8 (100%) | 65 (85.5%) | 78 (74.3%) | 39 (81.3%) | 13 (76.5%) | 203 (80.0%) | 0.24 |
| Chronic hepatitis B | 1 (12.5%) | 4 (5.3%) | 1 (1.0%) | 0 | 0 | 6 (2.4%) | 0.08 |
| Alcohol abuse | 2 (25.0%) | 49 (64.5%) | 63 (60.0%) | 31 (64.6%) | 14 (82.4%) | 159 (62.6%) | 0.09 |
| HIV | 0 | 0 | 2 (1.9%) | 0 | 0 | 2 (0.8%) | 0.75 |
| Other liver disease | 1 (12.5%) | 1 (1.3%) | 1 (1.0%) | 0 | 3 (17.6%) | 6 (2.4%) | 0.002 |
| Laboratory values, median | |||||||
| Platelet count, ×103/μl | 130.5 | 108.5 | 128.0 | 134.5 | 128.0 | 122.0 | 0.19 |
| ALP, U/l | 99.0 | 94.5 | 114.0 | 130.5 | 124.0 | 114.0 | 0.0001 |
| AST, U/l | 93.5 | 85.5 | 68.0 | 90.0 | 104.0 | 80.0 | 0.01 |
| Total bilirubin, mg/dl | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 3.8 | 1.2 | <0.0001 |
| INR | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.1 | <0.0001 |
| Albumin, g/dl | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 2.3 | 3.3 | <0.0001 |
| Creatinine, mg/dl | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.03 |
| α-Fetoprotein, median, ng/ml | 17.7 | 24.6 | 34.3 | 1006.9 | 19.6 | 31.2 | <0.0001 |
| ≤200, n (%) | 8 (100%) | 67 (88.2%) | 76 (72.4%) | 19 (39.6%) | 13 (76.5%) | 183 (72.1%) | <0.0001 |
| 201–400, n (%) | 0 | 4 (5.3%) | 3 (2.9%) | 1 (2.1%) | 0 | 8 (3.2%) | |
| >400, n (%) | 0 | 3 (4.0%) | 25 (23.8%) | 23 (47.9%) | 3 (17.7%) | 54 (21.3%) | |
| MELD score, mediana | 7.5 | 9.2 | 9.8 | 9.9 | 16.4 | 9.7 | <0.0001 |
| Low, < 15, n (%) | 225 (88.6%) | 5 (29.4%) | 45 (93.8%) | 97 (92.4%) | 70 (92.1%) | 8 (100%) | <0.0001 |
| Moderate–high, ≥15, n (%) | 29 (11.4%) | 12 (70.6%) | 3 (6.3%) | 8 (7.6%) | 6 (7.9%) | 0 | |
| Child–Pugh class, n (%)b | |||||||
| A | 7 (87.5%) | 45 (59.2%) | 55 (52.4%) | 29 (60.4%) | 0 | 136 (53.5%) | <0.0001 |
| B | 1 (12.5%) | 31 (40.8%) | 50 (47.6%) | 18 (37.5%) | 1 (5.9%) | 101 (39.8%) | |
| C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 (94.1%) | 16 (6.3%) | |
MELD scores were used to assess the severity of chronic liver disease.27
The Child–Pugh system evaluates the severity of liver disease and prognosticate outcome. Patients are divided into classes A to C, with class C indicating the worst prognosis.26,28
P-values were calculated from Fisher's exact test or chi-squared tests for categorical variables and anova for continuous variables. Continuous variables were rank-transformed as appropriate.
SD, standard deviation; BMI, body mass index; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALP, alkaline phosphatase; INR, international normalized ratio; MELD, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease.