Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the study groups.
| Variable | HCC patients G1(n = 40) | Cirrhotic patients G2(n = 40) | Healthy controls G3(n = 20) | p-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Among 3 groups | p1 | p2 | p3 | ||||
| Gender [n (%)] | |||||||
| Male | 32 (80%) | 30 (75%) | 15 (75%) | 0.918 | 0.72* | 0.72* | 1* |
| Female | 8 (20%) | 10 (25%) | 5 (25%) | ||||
| Age (years) [mean ± SD] | 66±8.1 | 62.4±12.1 | 64.3±10.5 | 0.55 | 0.831† | 1† | 1† |
| BMI (kg/m2) [mean ± SD] | 25.5±3.6 | 24±2.4 | 30±2.6 | <0.001 | 0.259† | <0.001† | <0.001† |
| Smoking [n (%)] | |||||||
| No | 28(70%) | 28(70%) | 15(75%) | 0.921 | 1* | 0.72* | 0.72* |
| Yes | 12(30%) | 12(30%) | 5(25%) | ||||
| Platelets (1×103/μl) [mean ± SD] | 192±66.4 | 186±49.8 | 248.1±63 | 0.003 | 1† | 0.014† | 0.006† |
| Total bilirubin (mg/dl) [median(IQR)] | 1.2(0.8–1.3) | 1.2(0.9–1.3) | 0.2(0.1–0.7) | 0.003 | 0.86†† | 0.01†† | 0.001†† |
| ALT (IU/L) [median(IQR)] | 45.5(41–82) | 43.5(35.5–65.3) | 26(18–30) | <0.001 | 0.40†† | <0.001†† | 0.001†† |
| AST(IU/L) [median(IQR)] | 66(39.5–110.8) | 58.5(42.3–82) | 28(25–32) | <0.001 | 0.39†† | <0.001†† | <0.001†† |
| Serum albumin (gm/dl) [mean ± SD] | 3.4±0.7 | 3.7±0.7 | 3.9±0.3 | 0.04 | 0.30† | 0.05† | 0.62† |
| PT (seconds) [mean ± SD] | 14.8±2.8 | 13.6±2.7 | 11.7±1.1 | 0.041 | 1† | 0.04† | 0.264† |
| INR [mean ± SD] | 1.3±0.3 | 1.2±0.3 | 1.1±0.1 | 0.036 | 1† | 0.03† | 0.320† |
| Serum creatinine (mg/dl) [mean ± SD] | 0.8±0.3 | 0.8±0.2 | 0.7±0.1 | 0.150 | 1† | 0.831† | 0.159† |
| AFP (ng/dl) [median (IQR)] | 86(31.8–1000) | 8(5.1–341.8) | 4(3–4.8) | <0.001 | 0.01†† | <0.001†† | <0.001†† |
| Child-Pugh class [n (%)] | |||||||
| A | 9(22.5%) | 5(12.5%) | --- | 0.071* | ---- | ---- | |
| B | 8(20%) | 10(25%) | --- | ||||
| C | 23(57.5%) | 25(62.5%) | ---- | ||||
| Child-Pugh score [mean ± SD] | 9.8±2.3 | 9.8±2.3 | ---- | 0.60§ | ---- | ---- | |
| MELD [median (IQR)] | 9.5(7–12.5) | 8(7–10.8) | ---- | 0.35†† | ---- | ---- | |
| TNM score (I+II/III+IV)[n.(%)] | 24(60%)/16(40%) | ---- | ----- | ---- | ---- | ---- | |
| Okuda score (1/2+3) [n.(%)] | 22(55%)/18(45%) | ---- | ----- | ---- | ---- | ---- | |
HCC: hepatocellular carcinoma; G: group; n: number; BMI: body mass index; kg/m2: kilogram/meter2; ALT: alanine aminotransferase; AST: aspartate transaminase; PT: prothrombin time; INR: international normalized ratio; AFP: alpha-fetoprotein; MELD: model of end stage liver disease; TNM: Tumor-Node-Metastasis
*: Chi square test
†: one way analysis of variance test followed by Bonferroni post-hoc test between each two groups
††: Kruskal Wallis test followed by Mann Whitney test between each two groups
§: Student’s t-test; SD: standard deviation; IQR: interquartile range; p1: G1 vs. G2; p2: G1 vs. G3; p3: G2 vs. G3.
Bold values denote significant results