Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of patients enrolled in the study
| Characteristics | All patients (n = 303) | With HCC development (n = 8) | Without HCC development (n = 295) | P value |
| Age, yr | 57 (20-85) | 62 (49-71) | 57 (20-85) | 0.1982 |
| Males | 182 (60.0) | 6 (75.0) | 176 (59.7) | 0.4843 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 23.3 (15.3-39.5) | 23.8 (20.2-26.5) | 23.4 (15.3-39.5) | 0.8602 |
| Habitual drinker | 75 (24.8) | 2 (25.0) | 73 (24.7) | 1.0003 |
| Diabetes mellitus1 | 25 (8.3) | 3 (37.5) | 22 (7.5) | 0.0193 |
| HCV-RNA (logIU/mL)1 | 6.2 (1.2-7.6) | 5.7 (5.0-6.7) | 6.2 (1.2-7.6) | 0.2462 |
| HCV genotype 1 | 152 (50.2) | 6 (75.0) | 146 (49.5) | 0.2833 |
| Stage of fibrosis F3-F4 | 47 (15.5) | 6 (75.0) | 41 (13.9) | < 0.0013 |
| Grade of inflammation A2-A3 | 208 (68.6) | 8 (100.0) | 200 (67.8) | 0.0603 |
| Albumin (g/dL) | 4.2 (3.3-4.8) | 3.9 (3.3-4.4) | 4.2 (3.3-4.7) | 0.0322 |
| ALT (IU/L) | 52 (11-699) | 146 (31-209) | 52 (11-699) | 0.0172 |
| Platelet count (× 104/μL) | 17.5 (5.6-39.6) | 10.3 (7.9-19.3) | 17.6 (5.6-31.9) | 0.0062 |
| GGT (IU/L) | 37 (9-517) | 66 (28-161) | 36 (9-517) | 0.0532 |
| AFP (ng/mL)1 | 5 (1-1380) | 11 (5-870) | 5 (1-1380) | 0.0022 |
| PI use | 43 (14.2) | 1 (12.5) | 42 (14.2) | 1.0002 |
1
Data not available for all patients;
2
Mann Whitney-U test;
3
χ2 test. Data are expressed as medians (range) or numbers (%). P values are for comparisons between patients with and without HCC development. AFP: α-fetoprotein; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; BMI: Body mass index; GGT: γ-glutamyl transpeptidase; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; PI: Protease inhibitor.