Table I.

Associations between BCAT1 expression and clinicopathologic features of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

		BCAT1 protein, n
Characteristics	n	High	Low	P-value
Gender				0.787
Female	18	8	10
Male	56	29	27
Age, years				1.000
≤45	17	9	8
>45	57	28	29
HBsAg status				0.674
Negative	6	4	2
Positive	68	33	35
Cirrhosis				0.754
No	12	7	5
Yes	62	30	32
AFP, µg/l				0.634
≤400	29	13	16
>400	45	24	21
Tumor size, cm				0.087
≤5	26	17	9
>5	48	20	28
Tumor number				0.003a
Single	47	17	30
Multiple	27	20	7
Tumor capsule				0.074
Complete	52	30	22
Incomplete	22	7	15
Vascular invasion				0.017a
No	54	22	32
Yes	20	15	5
Edmondson grade				0.027a
I/II	48	19	29
III/IV	26	18	8
TNM stage				0.017a
I+II	45	17	28
III+IV	29	20	9

^aP<0.05. BCAT1, branched-chain amino acid transaminase 1; HbsAg, hepatitis B surface antigen; AFP, α-fetoprotein; TNM, tumor-node-metastasis.