Table 3.
Demographic, clinical and biochemical characteristics of primary biliary cirrhosis patients with or without hepatocellular carcinoma at primary biliary cirrhosis diagnosis n (%)
| Variable | PBC with HCC (n = 20) | PBC without HCC (n = 77) | P value |
| Follow-up (mo) | 46.45 ± 41.85 | 57.20 ± 36.33 | 0.144 |
| Male | 8 (40) | 30 (38.97) | 1.000 |
| Female | 12 (60) | 47 (61.04) | 1.000 |
| Age (yr) | 61.05 ± 11.92 | 60.77 ± 11.52 | 0.808 |
| Han nationality | 18 (90.00) | 73 (94.81) | 1.000 |
| Body mass index ≥ 25 (kg/m2) | 6 (30) | 7 (9.10) | 0.015 |
| History of blood transfusion | 0 | 4 (5.19) | 0.300 |
| Family history of malignancy | 4 (20) | 3 (3.90) | 0.014 |
| History of alcohol intake | 7 (35) | 10 (12.99) | 0.022 |
| History of smoking | 4 (20) | 6 (7.79) | 0.112 |
| History of type 2 diabetes mellitus | 3 (15) | 7 (9.09) | 0.441 |
| Liver cirrhosis | 17 (85) | 62 (79.22) | 0.958 |
| Hepatitis B core antibody | 9 (45) | 37 (48.05) | 0.562 |
| Child-Pugh, A/B/C (n/n/n) | 8/11/1 | 32/42/3 | 0.900 |
| Antimitochondrial autoantibodies | |||
| (+) | 18 (90) | 65 (84.42) | 0.529 |
| (-) | 2 (10) | 12 (15.58) | 0.529 |
| IgA (mg/dL) | 2.78 ± 1.32 | 3.13 ± 2.07 | 0.686 |
| IgM (mg/dL) | 3.46 ± 1.99 | 4.07 ± 3.34 | 0.482 |
| IgG (mg/dL) | 15.86 ± 3.24 | 15.55 ± 6.27 | 0.657 |
| White blood cells (× 109/L) | 4.14 ± 1.38 | 4.85 ± 2.52 | 0.449 |
| Hemoglobin level (g/dL) | 109.01 ± 16.28 | 108.42 ± 20.69 | 0.438 |
| Alanine aminotransferase (U/L) | 80.15 ± 63.50 | 75.91 ± 67.18 | 0.715 |
| Aspartate aminotransferase (U/L) | 97.5 ± 64.48 | 92.60 ± 72.85 | 0.611 |
| Alkaline phosphatase (U/L) | 278.25 ± 155.42 | 376.10 ± 433.46 | 0.918 |
| γ-glutamyl transpeptidase level (U/L) | 294.65 ± 285.01 | 316.29 ± 331.95 | 0.748 |
| Total bilirubin level (mg/dL) | 46.84 ± 64.34 | 46.19 ± 62.37 | 0.858 |
| Albumin level (g/dL) | 32.75 ± 6.20 | 33.21 ± 5.58 | 0.876 |
| Triglyceride (mmol/L) | 1.03 ± 0.43 | 1.36 ± 0.82 | 0.207 |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/L) | 4.20 ± 1.38 | 5.75 ± 4.05 | 0.113 |
| Prothrombin time (s) | 12.34 ± 1.64 | 12.23 ± 1.37 | 0.813 |
| α-fetoprotein (ng/mL) | 14.75 ± 21.84 | 7.62 ± 4.46 | 0.072 |
| Use of ursodeoxycholic acid | 19 (95) | 60 (77.9) | 0.080 |
| Effective | 8 (42.1) | 23 (38.3) | 0.769 |
| Clinical stage | |||
| Asymptomatic | 0 (0) | 9 (11.69) | 0.110 |
| Symptomatic | 20 (100) | 68 (88.31) | 0.110 |
HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; PBC: Primary biliary cirrhosis.