Table 2.
Characteristics of patients and lesions
| Parameters | HCCs | Benign nodules | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patient-wise analysis | |||
| Number | 111 | 39 | |
| Age, median [range] (years) | 55 [35–81] | 59 [41–82] | 0.198 |
| Male/female | 97/14 | 34/5 | 0.706 |
| Child–Pugh | NA | ||
| A | 56 | 19 | |
| B | 45 | 14 | |
| C | 10 | 6 | |
| AFPa | |||
| Patients with high AFP serumb | 45 | 11 | NA |
| Patients with AFP serum > 200 ng/ml | 24 | 2 | NA |
| Etiology of liver cirrhosisc | NA | ||
| HBV | 86 | 34 | |
| HCV | 18 | 3 | |
| Ethanol | 20 | 6 | |
| Number of nodules/patient | NA | ||
| One nodule | 110 | 34 | |
| Two nodules | 1 | 5 | |
| Lesion-wise analysis | |||
| Number | 112 | 44 | NA |
| Histopathologic feature of lesions | |||
| Well-differentiated HCC | 47 | 0 | |
| Moderately/Poorly differentiated HCC | 75 | 0 | NA |
| Dysplastic nodule | 0 | 39 | |
| Regenerative nodule | 0 | 5 | |
| Nodule size, median [range] (cm) | 2.1 [0.9–3.0] | 1.7 [0.6–2.9] | 0.027 |
Continuous variables are expressed as a median/range and qualitative variables as the total count
NA not assessment, AFP alpha-fetoprotein
a43 missing data
bHigh AFP serum means above the upper normal limit
cA patient could have multiple etiologies