Table 1. Baseline characteristics of HCC cases and matched controls.

	Training group			Validation group
Variable	HCC cases (n=80)	Matched controls (n=160)	P	HCC cases (n=36)	Matched controls (n=108)	P
Males	56 (70)	112 (70)	1	22 (61)	66 (61)	1
Age, years	66 (51–81)	65 (48–81)	0.728	65.5 (53–77)	62 (33–90)	0.89
Etiology (%)			1			0.231
Hepatitis B	14 (17.5)	28 (17.5)		3 (8.3)	11 (10.2)
Hepatitis C	55 (68.8)	110 (68.8)		26 (72.2)	58 (53.7)
Alcohol	9 (11.2)	18 (11.2)		5 (13.9)	23 (21.3)
Others	2 (2.5)	4 (2.5)		2 (5.6)	16 (14.8)
Child-Pugh score	6 (5–10)	5 (5–11)	0.156	6 (5–10)	5 (5–12)	0.405
MELD score	10 (6–18)	9 (6–20)	0.034	9 (6–23)	9 (6–23)	0.299
T0 AFP, ng ml−1	17.5 (0.6–1238)	5 (1–75)	<0.001	15.5 (1–267)	4.5 (1–52)	<0.001
T-6 AFP, ng ml−1	9.75 (1–129.2)	5 (1–145)	<0.001	11 (1–114)	4 (1–70)	<0.001
T-12 AFP, ng ml−1	9.5 (0.4–69)	5 (1–359)	<0.001	9 (1–354)	4 (1–83)	<0.001
ALT, IU l−1	42 (10–626)	38 (8–235)	0.506	53.5 (15–301)	32.5 (10–322)	0.067
Glucose, mg ml−1	95 (60–342)	99 (63–296)	0.612	105 (77–261)	100 (58–269)	0.143
Serum creatinine, mg ml−1	0.9 (0.4–1.7)	0.9 (0.5–1.9)	0.784	0.8 (0.5–2.7)	0.8 (0.5–2.3)	0.427
Albumin, g dl−1	3.6 (2.1–4.6)	3.8 (2.0–6.1)	0.031	3.8 (2.2–5.1)	3.8 (2.6–5.1)	0.026
Total bilirubin, mg dl−1	1.1 (0.4–5.9)	1.1 (0.3–4.4)	0.543	1 (0.4–3.9)	1.1 (0.2–7.2)	0.546
INR	1.2 (0.9–1.6)	1.1 (0.9–2.4)	0.048	1.2 (1–1.6)	1.2 (0.9–1.7)	0.039
Ascites	26 (32.6)	35 (21.9)	0.053	8 (22.2)	20 (18.5)	0.632
Porto-systemic encephalopathy	1 (1.3)	6 (3.8)	0.43	3 (8.3)	2 (1.9)	0.1

Abbreviations: AFP=α-fetoprotein; ALT=alanine aminotransferase; HC=hepatocellular carcinoma; INR=international normalised ratio; MELD=model for end-stage liver disease.

Values are expressed as number (%) or median with range.