Table II.
Baseline characteristics of 85 patients with HCC.
| Cx32 expression in HCC | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||||
| Clinical characteristics | Variables | No. of patients | Positive expression | Negative expression | P-value |
| Age (years) | ≤56 | 44 | 22 | 21 | 0.061 |
| >56 | 41 | 12 | 29 | ||
| Sex | Female | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0.306 |
| Male | 63 | 27 | 35 | ||
| Alpha-fetoprotein (ng/ml) | ≤400 | 25 | 10 | 15 | 0.0485 |
| >400 | 60 | 24 | 35 | ||
| HBV infection | Yes | 51 | 22 | 34 | 0.462 |
| No | 28 | 12 | 16 | ||
| Liver cirrhosis | Yes | 66 | 28 | 37 | 0.325 |
| No | 19 | 6 | 13 | ||
| Histological differentiation | Poorly | 13 | 6 | 7 | 0.559 |
| Moderately | 64 | 24 | 39 | ||
| Well | 8 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Tumor capsule | Yes | 16 | 3 | 13 | 0.071 |
| No | 69 | 31 | 37 | ||
| Tumor size (cm) | ≤5 | 46 | 21 | 25 | 0.288 |
| >5 | 39 | 13 | 25 | ||
| Vital status | Deceased | 34 | 16 | 17 | 0.236 |
| Living | 51 | 18 | 33 | ||
| Follow-up time (months) | ≤60 | 34 | 16 | 17 | 0.229 |
| >60 | 51 | 18 | 33 | ||
HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; Cx32, connexin 32; HBV, hepatitis B virus.