Table 1. Baseline characteristics of patients.
| Variables | Training cohort (n=3,370) | Internal validation cohort (n=1,006) | External validation cohort (n=382) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patient factors/laboratory parameters | |||
| Age [year, mean (SD)] | 51.1 (10.8) | 52.5 (10.5) | 54.2 (10.9) |
| Gender, male, n (%) | 2,927 (86.9) | 863 (85.8) | 318 (83.2) |
| Etiology, n (%) | |||
| HBV | 2,983 (88.5) | 878 (87.3) | 315 (82.5) |
| HCV | 58 (1.7) | 10 (1.0) | 2 (0.5) |
| NBNC | 329 (9.8) | 118 (11.7) | 65 (17.0) |
| PLT [109/L, mean (SD)] | 165 (69.7) | 166 (68.0) | 175 (76.4) |
| ALB [g/L, mean (SD)] | 42.1 (3.81) | 42.1 (3.41) | 40.3 (3.85) |
| TBIL [μmol/L, median (IQR)] | 13.3 [10.6, 17.0] | 13.3 [10.5, 16.8] | 15.4 [11.6, 19.8] |
| AFP [ng/mL, median (IQR)] | 80.3 [7.00, 1210] | 84.9 [6.20, 1210] | 54.6 [5.76, 842] |
| ALBI grade, n (%) | |||
| 1 | 2,598 (77.1) | 807 (80.2) | 206 (53.9) |
| 2 | 771 (22.9) | 198 (19.7) | 176 (46.1) |
| 3 | 1 (0.0003) | 1 (0.1) | 0 (0.0) |
| Tumor factors | |||
| Tumor size [cm, mean (SD)] | 6.38 (3.77) | 5.89 (3.67) | 5.93 (4.29) |
| Solitary tumor number, n (%) | 2,747 (81.5) | 811 (80.6) | 314 (82.2) |
| Microvascular invasion, n (%) | 1,251 (37.1) | 452 (44.9) | 233 (61.0) |
| Macrovascular invasion, n (%) | 448 (13.3) | 92 (9.1) | 75 (19.6) |
| Edmondson-Steiner grade, n (%) | |||
| I–II | 514 (15.3) | 68 (6.8) | 109 (28.5) |
| III–IV | 2,856 (84.7) | 938 (93.2) | 273 (71.5) |
| Tumor capsular, n (%) | 2,681 (79.6) | 825 (82.0) | 174 (45.5) |
| Satellite nodules, n (%) | 1,249 (37.1) | 504 (50.1) | 123 (32.2) |
| Liver cirrhosis, n (%) | 2,454 (72.8) | 699 (69.5) | 297 (77.7) |
| BCLC stage, n (%) | |||
| 0/A | 2,494 (74.0) | 779 (77.5) | 271 (70.9) |
| B | 428 (12.7) | 135 (13.4) | 36 (9.5) |
| C | 448 (13.3) | 92 (9.1) | 75 (19.6) |
| AJCC TNM stage, n (%) | |||
| I | 1,849 (54.9) | 494 (49.1) | 143 (37.4) |
| II | 815 (24.1) | 345 (34.3) | 149 (39.1) |
| IIIA | 258 (7.7) | 75 (7.5) | 15 (3.9) |
| IIIB | 448 (13.3) | 92 (9.1) | 75 (19.6) |
Categorical variables are presented as n (%). Mean (SD) was presented for normally distributed continuous variables, while median [IQR] was given to those with non-normally distributed continuous variables. HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus; NBNC, non-B non-C; PLT, platelet count; ALB, albumin; TBIL, total bilirubin; AFP, alpha-fetoprotein; ALBI, albumin-bilirubin; BCLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; AJCC TNM, American Joint Committee on Cancer tumor-node-metastasis; SD, standard deviation; IQR, interquartile range; CI, confidence interval.