Table 1.
Clinicopathological characteristics of patients with HCC according to the ERα protein expression level.
| Clinicopathological feature | ERα protein-positive HCCs | ERα protein-negative HCCs | p value |
|---|---|---|---|
| n = 32 (9.4%) | n = 307 (90.6%) | ||
| Age (years; median, IQR) | 60 (51–68) | 55 (48–63) | 0.015 |
| Sex (male/female, %) | 26 (81%)/6 (19%) | 252 (83%)/53 (17%) | 1 |
| Etiology (HBV/HCV/Alcohol/Unknown, %) | 25 (78%)/1 (3%)/1 (3%)/5 (16%) | 252 (82%)/17 (6%)/14 (5%)/24 (8%) | 0.462 |
| Serum AST (IU/L; median, IQR) | 28 (22–41) | 30 (23–40) | 0.934 |
| Serum ALT (IU/L; median, IQR) | 31 (20–49) | 31 (22–45) | 0.852 |
| Serum albumin (g/dL; median, IQR) | 4.3 (4.1–4.6) | 4.4 (4.1–4.7) | 0.61 |
| Serum platelets (×1000/μL; median, IQR) | 174 (119–201) | 162 (133–210) | 0.343 |
| Serum alpha-fetoprotein (IU/mL; median, IQR)a | 3.6 (2.5–27.1) | 24.9 (4.6–279.5) | <0.001 |
| Serum PIVKA-II (AU/mL; median, IQR)b | 58.0 (24.0–346.0) | 81.0 (33.5–539.0) | 0.189 |
| TNM stage (stage I/II/III, %) | 17 (53%)/14 (44%)/1 (3%) | 105 (34%)/186 (61%)/16 (5%) | 0.104 |
| HCC pathology | |||
| Differentiation (Edmonson–Steiner Grade I/II/III, %) | 5 (16%)/22 (69%)/5 (16%) | 21 (7%)/224 (73%)/62 (20%) | 0.193 |
| Diameter of the largest tumor (cm; median, IQR) | 2.7 (1.8–4.3) | 3.2 (2.2–4.5) | 0.782 |
| Tumor multiplicity | 3 (9%) | 41 (13%) | 0.075 |
| Tumor capsule formation (absent/partial/complete, %) | 5 (16%)/14 (44%)/13 (40%) | 54 (18%)/168 (55%)/85 (28%) | 0.302 |
| Microvascular invasion (%) | 12 (38%) | 182 (59%) | 0.029 |
| Tumor fatty change (absent/present, %) | 17 (53.1%)/15 (46.9%) | 223 (73.1%)/82 (26.9%) | 0.017 |
| Nontumor liver pathology | |||
| Chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis (%) | 30 (93.8%) | 294 (95.8%) | 0.642 |
IQR interquartile range, SD standard deviation.
aSerum alpha-fetoprotein was not available for one patient.
bSerum PIVKA-II was not available for 11 patients.