Table 1.
Clinicopathologic Characteristics of Patients with Early Stage HCC in the Training and Validation Cohorts
| Total Patients | Training Cohort | Validation Cohort | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variables | n=901 | n=451 | n=450 | P value |
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 757 (84.0%) | 383 (84.9%) | 374 (83.1%) | 0.458 |
| Female | 144 (16.0%) | 68 (15.1%) | 76 (16.9%) | |
| HBsAg | ||||
| Negative | 103 (11.4%) | 46 (10.2%) | 57 (12.7%) | 0.245 |
| Positive | 798 (88.6%) | 405 (89.8%) | 393 (87.3%) | |
| Age, y | ||||
| ≤60 | 693 (76.9%) | 328 (72.7%) | 365 (81.1%) | 0.003 |
| >60 | 208 (23.1%) | 123 (27.3%) | 85 (18.9%) | |
| PLT, x10^9/L | ||||
| ≤100 | 158 (17.5%) | 81 (18.0%) | 77 (17.1%) | 0.738 |
| >100 | 743 (82.5%) | 370 (82.0%) | 373 (82.9%) | |
| TB, μmol/L | ||||
| <34.2 | 891 (98.9%) | 445 (98.7%%) | 446 (99.1%%) | 0.753 |
| ≥34.2 | 10 (1.1%) | 6 (1.3%%) | 4 (0.9%%) | |
| ALB, g/L | ||||
| ≥40 | 646 (71.7%) | 322 (71.4%) | 324 (72.0%) | 0.841 |
| <40 | 255 (28.3%) | 129 (28.6%) | 126 (28.0%) | |
| ALT, IU/L | ||||
| ≤50 | 676 (75.0%) | 345 (76.5%) | 331 (73.6%) | 0.308 |
| >50 | 225 (25.0%) | 106 (23.5%) | 119 (26.4%) | |
| AST, IU/L | ||||
| ≤40 | 592 (65.7%) | 295 (65.4%) | 297 (66.0%) | 0.852 |
| >40 | 309 (34.3%) | 156 (34.6%) | 153 (34.0%) | |
| GGT, IU/L | ||||
| ≤60 | 472 (52.4%) | 234 (51.9%) | 238 (52.9%) | 0.763 |
| >60 | 429 (47.6%) | 217 (48.1%) | 212 (47.1%) | |
| LDH, IU/L | ||||
| ≤225 | 725 (80.5%) | 361 (80.0%) | 364 (80.9%) | 0.749 |
| >225 | 176 (19.5%) | 90 (20.0%) | 86 (19.1%) | |
| ALP, U/L | ||||
| ≤130 | 792 (87.9%) | 393 (87.1%) | 399 (88.7%) | 0.482 |
| >130 | 109 (12.1%) | 58 (12.9%) | 51 (11.3%) | |
| HBV-DNA load, IU/mL | ||||
| <2000 | 485 (53.8%) | 245 (54.3%) | 240 (53.3%) | 0.766 |
| ≥2000 | 416 (46.2%) | 206 (45.7%) | 210 (46.7%) | |
| AFP, μg/L | ||||
| ≤400 | 594 (65.9%) | 299 (66.3%) | 295 (65.6%) | 0.814 |
| >400 | 307 (34.1%) | 152 (33.7%) | 155 (34.4%) | |
| CEA, μg/L | ||||
| ≤10 | 892 (99.0%) | 447 (99.1%) | 445 (98.9%) | 0.997 |
| >10 | 9 (1.0%) | 4 (0.9%) | 5 (1.1%) | |
| CA19-9, μg/L | ||||
| ≤39 | 738 (81.9%) | 376 (83.4%) | 362 (80.4%) | 0.254 |
| >39 | 163 (18.1%) | 75 (16.6%) | 88 (19.6%) | |
| APRI | ||||
| ≤0.9 | 686 (76.1%) | 344 (76.3%) | 342 (76.0%) | 0.923 |
| >0.9 | 215 (23.9%) | 107 (23.7%) | 108 (24.0%) | |
| Blood loss, mL | ||||
| <400 | 691 (76.7%) | 341 (75.6%) | 350 (77.8%) | 0.442 |
| ≥400 | 210 (23.3%) | 110 (24.4%) | 100 (22.2%) | |
| Tumor number | ||||
| Single | 876 (97.2%) | 438 (97.1%) | 438 (97.3%) | 0.844 |
| Multiple | 25 (2.8%) | 13 (2.9%) | 12 (2.7%) | |
| Tumor size, cm | ||||
| ≤5 | 559 (62.0%) | 273 (60.5%) | 286 (63.6%) | 0.350 |
| >5 | 342 (38.0%) | 178 (39.5%) | 164 (36.4%) | |
| MVI | ||||
| No | 636 (70.6%) | 314 (69.6%) | 322 (71.6%) | 0.524 |
| Yes | 265 (29.4%) | 137 (30.4%) | 128 (28.4%) | |
| Satellite lesions | ||||
| No | 648 (71.9%) | 327 (72.5%) | 321 (71.3%) | 0.695 |
| Yes | 253 (28.1%) | 124 (27.5%) | 129 (28.7%) | |
| Liver cirrhosis | ||||
| No | 391 (43.4%) | 194 (43.0%) | 197 (43.8%) | 0.817 |
| Yes | 510 (56.6%) | 257 (57.0%) | 253 (56.2%) | |
| Edmondson-Steiner grade | ||||
| I+II | 187 (20.8%) | 95 (21.1%) | 92 (20.4%) | 0.819 |
| III+IV | 714 (79.2%) | 356 (78.9%) | 358 (79.6%) | |
| Child-Pugh (A/B) | ||||
| A | 879 (97.6%) | 439 (97.3%) | 440 (97.8%) | 0.670 |
| B | 22 (2.4%) | 12 (2.7%) | 10 (2.2%) | |
| TNM stage (AJCC eighth) | ||||
| IA | 90 (10.0%) | 49 (10.9%) | 41 (9.1%) | 0.445 |
| IB | 551 (61.2%) | 267 (59.2%) | 284 (63.1%) | |
| II | 260 (28.9%) | 135 (29.9%) | 125 (27.8%) | |
| BCLC stage | ||||
| 0 | 90 (10.0%) | 49 (10.9%) | 41 (9.1%) | 0.380 |
| A | 811 (90.0%) | 402 (89.1%) | 409 (90.9%) |
Notes: P value: training cohort versus validation cohort. P<0.05 was defined as statistical significance.
Abbreviations: HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; HBsAg, hepatitis B surface antigen; PLT, platelets; TB, total bilirubin; ALB, albumin; ALT, alanine transaminase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; GGT, γ-glutamyl transferase; LDH, lactate dehydrogenase; ALP, alkaline phosphatase; HBV-DNA, hepatitis B virus deoxyribonucleic acid; AFP, a-fetoprotein; CEA, carcinoembryonic antigen; CA19-9, carbohydrate antigen 19–9; APRI, aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index; MVI, microvascular invasion; TNM, TNM Classification of Malignant Tumors; AJCC, American Joint Committee on Cancer; BCLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer.