Table 1. HCC clinico-pathological features in relation to GEP levels.
| Clinico-pathological variables | GEP^ | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | High | ||
| Age | |||
| Young (≤60) | 15 | 7 | 0.827 |
| Elderly (>60) | 13 | 7 | |
| Venous infiltration | |||
| Absent | 11 | 1 | 0.030 |
| Present | 17 | 13 | |
| HBV status | |||
| Negative for HBsAg | 6 | 4 | 0.608 |
| Positive for HBsAg | 22 | 10 | |
| Cellular differentiation (Edmondson-Steiner grade) | |||
| Well-differentiated | 18 | 8 | 0.750 |
| Poorly-differentiated | 9 | 5 | |
| Tumor stage (version UICC7) | |||
| Early stage | 15 | 5 | 0.418 |
| Late stage | 10 | 6 | |
| Tumor size | |||
| Small (≤5cm) | 7 | 3 | 0.798 |
| Large (>5cm) | 21 | 11 | |
| Serum AFP level | |||
| Low (≤400 ng/ml) | 13 | 8 | 0.513 |
| High (>400 ng/ml) | 15 | 6 | |
| Number of tumor nodules | |||
| Single | 18 | 8 | 0.653 |
| Multiple (≥2) | 10 | 6 | |
^
The cutoff for GEP expression levels was 6.92 (% of GEP+ cells), which was determined by maximizing the Youden index for the prediction of 1-year recurrence-free survival.