Figure 1.

General scheme of the analytical framework developed in the study. A PC-PR2 analysis is carried out beforehand to identify relevant sources of variation. In the PLS model, the X- and Y-sets are related to each other, and scores are computed (1). X- and Y-scores are, in turn, associated to a case–control indicator of HCC status in conditional logistic regression models (2). A mediation analysis is carried out to explore the role of metabolomics in the association between lifestyle factors and risk of HCC (3).