Table 1

The clinicopathological characteristics of three cohorts of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

		Cohort 1 (67 cases)		Cohort 2^* (314 cases)		Cohort 3 (73 cases)
Clinical and pathological indexes		n	%	n	%	n	%
Age, years	≤52	40	59.7	165	52.55	32	43.84
Age, years	>52	27	40.3	149	47.45	41	56.16
Sex	Female	13	19.4	48	15.29	5	6.85
Sex	Male	54	80.6	266	84.71	68	93.15
Liver cirrhosis	No	7	10.45	26	8.28	13	17.81
Liver cirrhosis	Yes	60	89.55	288	91.72	60	82.19
Child–Pugh	A	61	91.04	312	99.36	71	97.26
Child–Pugh	B	6	8.96	2	0.64	2	2.74
HBsAg	Negative	6	8.96	55	17.52	14	19.18
HBsAg	Positive	61	91.04	259	82.48	59	80.82
HCV	Negative	65	97.01	309	98.41	72	98.63
HCV	Positive	2	2.99	5	1.59	1	1.37
GGT (U/l)	≤54	28	41.79	152	48.41	35	47.95
GGT (U/l)	>54	39	58.21	162	51.59	38	52.05
ALT (U/l)	≤75	59	88.06	274	87.26	63	86.3
ALT (U/l)	>75	8	11.94	40	12.74	10	13.7
AFP (ng/ml)	≤20	23	14.93	163	51.91	30	41.1
AFP (ng/ml)	>20	44	85.07	151	48.09	43	58.9
Tumour encapsulation	Complete	41	61.19	174	55.41	39	53.42
Tumour encapsulation	None	26	38.81	137	43.63	34	46.58
Tumour differentiation	I–II	46	68.66	227	72.29	51	69.86
Tumour differentiation	III–IV	21	31.34	87	27.71	22	30.14
Tumour size (cm)	≤5	29	43.28	171	54.46	42	57.53
Tumour size (cm)	>5	38	56.72	143	45.54	31	42.47
Tumour number	Single	51	76.12	267	85.03	58	79.45
Tumour number	Multiple	16	23.88	47	14.97	15	20.55
Vascular invasion	No	38	56.72	267	85.03	36	49.32
Vascular invasion	Yes	29	43.28	47	14.97	37	50.68
CLIP stage	0+1	47	70.15	248	78.98	53	72.6
CLIP stage	2+3+4	20	29.85	66	21.02	20	27.4
TNM stage	I	31	46.27	228	72.61	30	41.1
TNM stage	II–III	36	53.73	86	27.39	43	58.9
Adjuvant TACE	No	42	62.67	192	61.15	35	47.9
Adjuvant TACE	Yes	25	37.33	122	38.85	38	52.1

↵* Three cases in cohort 2 with no information on tumour encapsulation were not calculated.
AFP, α-fetoprotein; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; CLIP, Cancer of the Liver Italian Program; GGT, γ-glutamyl transferase; HBsAg, hepatitis B surface antigen; HCV, hepatitis C virus; TACE, transcatheter arterial chemoembolisation; TNM, tumour–node–metastasis.