Table 1.
Clinical Characteristics of the Study Participantsa
| Characteristic | Cohort | P Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Development (n = 721) | Validation (n = 340) | ||
| At the Time of HCC Diagnosis | |||
| Age, median (IQR), y | 58.2 (53.3–63.9) | 56.4 (51.7–61.0) | <.001 |
| Male sex | 542 (75.2) | 283 (83.2) | <.001 |
| Liver disease | |||
| Hepatitis C | 424 (58.8) | 191 (56.2) | <.001 |
| Hepatitis B | 116 (16.1) | 78 (22.9) | |
| Fatty liver disease | 63 (8.7) | 11 (3.2) | |
| Alcoholic liver disease | 62 (8.6) | 45 (13.2) | |
| Others | 56 (7.8) | 15 (4.4) | |
| MELD score, median (IQR) | 11 (9–14) | 11 (8–14) | .79 |
| HCC | |||
| 1 | 498 (69.1) | 260 (76.5) | .02 |
| 2 | 167 (23.2) | 53 (15.6) | |
| 3 | 56 (7.8) | 27 (7.9) | |
| AFP, median (IQR), ng/mL | 12.0 (5.0–54.5) | 11.0 (5.0–41.0) | .82 |
| While on Wait List | |||
| Received LRT | 660 (91.5) | 221 (65.0) | <.001 |
| Wait time to LT, median (IQR), mo | 8.1 (4.1–14.2) | 10.5 (6.0–18.0) | <.001 |
| At the Time of LT | |||
| AFP, median (IQR), ng/mLb | 8.3 (4.0–29.0) | 9.4 (4.5–36.0) | .21 |
| ≤20 | 482 (70.0) | 221 (65.0) | |
| 21–99 | 126 (18.2) | 72 (21.2) | |
| 100–999 | 66 (9.6) | 36 (10.6) | |
| ≥1000 | 15 (2.2) | 11 (3.2) | |
| Pathologic stage | |||
| No residual tumor | 199 (27.6) | 48 (14.1) | <.001 |
| Within Milan criteria | 363 (50.3) | 165 (48.5) | |
| Beyond Milan criteria | 159 (22.1) | 127 (37.3) | |
| Largest viable tumor diameter (cm) + No. of tumors, median (IQR) | 3.5 (0–5.3) | 4.5 (3.0–6.7) | <.001 |
| Microvascular invasion | 68 (9.4) | 81 (23.8) | <.001 |
| Histologic gradec | |||
| Completely necrotic | 199 (28.0) | 48 (14.7) | <.001 |
| Well differentiated | 200 (28.1) | 28 (8.6) | |
| Moderately differentiated | 238 (33.4) | 218 (66.9) | |
| Poorly differentiated | 75 (10.5) | 32 (9.8) | |
Abbreviations: AFP, α-fetoprotein; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; IQR, interquartile range; LRT, locoregional therapy; LT, liver transplantation; MELD, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease.
a
Unless otherwise noted, data are reported as number (percentage) of participants
b
For development cohort, n = 689.
c
For development cohort, n = 712; for validation cohort, n = 326.