Table 1.

Clinicalpathological characteristics of the investigated HCC patients

	Cohort 1 (n = 79)	Cohort 2 (n = 51)	Cohort 3 (n = 52)
	(for IHC)	(for qRT-PCR)	(for western blot)
Gender
Male	68 (86.1%)	40 (78.4%)	42 (80.8%)
Female	11 (13.9%)	11 (21.6%)	10 (19.2%)
Age
<54	32 (40.5%)	19 (32.3%)	21 (40.4%)
≥54	47 (59.5%)	32 (62.7%)	31 (59.6%)
Tumor size
<5 cm	48 (60.7%)	28 (54.9%)	16 (30.8 %)
≥5 cm	31 (39.3%)	23 (45.1%)	36 (69.2%)
Liver cirrhosis history
Yes	65 (82.3%)	34 (66.7%)	32 (62.7%)
No	14 (17.7%)	17 (33.3%)	20 (39.3%)
TNM stages
I	38 (48.1%)	22 (43.1%)	23 (44.2%)
II	2 (2.5%)	5 (9.8%)	3 (5.8%)
III	32 (40.5%)	14 (27.5%)	16 (30.8%)
IV	5 (6.3%)	7 (13.7%)	5 (9.6%)
Not available	2 (2.5%)	3 (5.9%)	5 (9.6%)
Regional lymph nodes
N0	73 (92.4%)	44 (86.3%)	44 (84.6%)
N1	6 (7.6%)	7 (13.7%)	8 (15.4%)
BCLC stages
0	6 (7.6%)	1 (2.0%)	11 (21.2%)
A	30 (38.0%)	10 (19.6%)	18 (34.6%)
B	10 (12.6%)	4 (7.8%)	8 (15.4%)
C	24 (30.4%)	15 (29.4%)	10 (19.2%)
D	2 (2.5%)	0	0
Not available	7 (8.9%)	21 (41.2%)	5 (9.6%)
Distant metastasis
No	13 (16.5%)	46 (90.2%)	33 (63.5%)
Yes	12 (15.4%)	3 (5.9%)	11 (21.2%)
Not available	54 (68.1%)	2 (3.9%)	8 (15.3%)