Table 1.
Clinicopathologic characteristics of all included HCC patients with negative serum AFP
| Variables | Number (percentage)/Median (range) | P value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total patients | Training cohort | Validation cohort | ||
| (n = 509) | (n = 339) | (n = 170) | ||
| Age, y | 55 (23‐83) | 55 (23‐83) | 56 (24‐77) | .335 |
| Sex (Female/Male) | 49 (9.6%)/460 (90.4%) | 36 (10.6%)/303 (89.4%) | 13 (7.6%)/157 (92.4%) | .284 |
| HBsAg (Negative/Positive) | 55 (10.8%)/454 (89.2%) | 37 (10.9%)/302 (89.1%) | 18 (10.6%)/152 (89.4%) | .911 |
| TB, μmol/L | 13.6 (1.6‐259.2) | 12.9 (1.6‐259.2) | 14.7 (3.1‐119.1) | .074 |
| ALB, g/L | 42.2 (13.8‐53.4) | 42.0 (13.8‐53.4) | 42.5 (28.3‐50.5) | .295 |
| ALT, IU/L | 36.3 (6.9‐1156.1) | 35.3 (6.9‐619.8) | 39.1 (10.6‐1156.1) | .155 |
| AST, IU/L | 30.3 (9.9‐1304.3) | 30.0 (9.9‐1009.9) | 32.0 (11.8‐1304.3) | .276 |
| GGT, IU/L | 52.0 (8.0‐1767.0) | 52.0 (8.0‐1767.0) | 55.0 (8.0‐1391.0) | .506 |
| LDH, IU/L | 179.0 (27.0‐1077.0) | 176.0 (27.0‐1077.0) | 183.5 (87.0‐1042.0) | .123 |
| ALP, U/L | 82.0 (27.0‐429.0) | 82.0 (27.0‐429.0) | 82.5 (33.0‐408.0) | .657 |
| CEA, μg/L | 2.4 (0.2‐33.6) | 2.3 (0.2‐15.2) | 2.8 (0.4‐33.6) | .028 |
| CA19‐9, μg/L | 16.7 (0.6‐372.9) | 16.1 (0.6‐372.9) | 18.6 (0.6‐235.0) | .073 |
| Tumor size, cm | 4.0 (0.8‐20.7) | 4.1 (1.0‐20.7) | 4.0 (0.8‐20.0) | .298 |
| Blood loss, mL (<400/≥400) | 401 (78.8%)/108 (21.2%) | 268 (79.1%)/71 (20.9%) | 133 (78.2%)/37 (21.8%) | .831 |
| HBV‐DNA load, IU/mL (<2000/≥2000) | 297 (58.3%)/212 (41.7%) | 197 (58.1%)/142 (41.9%) | 100 (58.8%)/70 (41.2%) | .878 |
| Tumor number (Single/Multiple) | 468 (91.9%)/41 (8.1%) | 311 (91.7%)/28 (8.3%) | 157 (92.4%)/13 (7.6%) | .811 |
| Major resection (No/Yes) | 403 (79.2%)/106 (20.8%) | 264 (77.9%)/75 (22.1%) | 139 (81.8%)/31 (18.2%) | .308 |
| MVI (No/Yes) | 398 (78.2%)/111 (21.8%) | 266 (78.5%)/73 (21.5%) | 132 (77.6%)/38 (22.4%) | .833 |
| Satellite lesions (No/Yes) | 416 (81.7%)/93 (18.3%) | 277 (81.7%)/62 (18.3%) | 139 (81.8%)/31 (18.2%) | .988 |
| Liver cirrhosis (No/Yes) | 239 (47.0%)/270 (53.0%) | 168 (49.6%)/171 (50.4%) | 71 (41.8%)/99 (58.2%) | .097 |
| Edmondson‐Steiner grade (I + II/III + IV) | 154 (30.3%)/355 (69.7%) | 103 (30.4%)/236 (69.6%) | 51 (30.0%)/119 (70.0%) | .929 |
| Child‐Pugh (A/B) | 499 (98.0%)/10 (2.0%) | 332 (97.9%)/7 (2.1%) | 167 (98.2%)/3 (1.8%) | 1.000 |
| AJCC eighth (IA/IB/II/IIIA) | 54 (10.6%)/328 (64.4%)/113 (22.2%)/14 (2.8%) | 35 (10.3%)/216 (63.7%)/76 (22.4%)/12 (3.5%) | 19 (11.2%)/112 (65.9%)/37 (21.8%)/2 (1.2%) | .417 |
| BCLC stage(0/A/B) | 54 (10.6%)/430 (84.5%)/25 (4.9%) | 35 (10.3%)/284 (83.8%)/20 (5.9%) | 19 (11.2%)/146 (85.9%)/5 (2.9%) | .341 |
| JIS score (0/1/2) | 35 (6.9%)/427 (83.9%)/47 (9.2%) | 22 (6.5%)/284(83.8%)/33 (9.7%) | 13 (7.6%)/143 (84.1%)/14 (8.2%) | .780 |
Abbreviations: AJCC, American Joint Committee on Cancer; ALB, albumin; ALP, alkaline phosphatase; ALT, alanine transaminase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; BCLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; CA19‐9, carbohydrate antigen 19‐9; CEA, carcino‐embryonic antigen; GGT, γ‐glutamyl transferase; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; HBsAg, hepatitis B surface antigen; HBV‐DNA, hepatitis B virus deoxyribonucleic acid; JIS, Japan Integrated Staging Score; LDH, lactate dehydrogenase; MVI, microvascular invasion; P: Training versus Validation Cohorts; TB, total bilirubin;