Clinical characteristics of the enrolled participants in discovery phase
| Clinical and pathological indexes | Discovery (n=190) | P values (Control vs eHCC) | P values (LC vs eHCC) | ||
| Control (n=75) | LC (n=40) | early HCC (n=75) | |||
| Age (year) | 48.65±6.61 | 46.95±5.6 | 49.67±8.56 | 0.419 | 0.073 |
| Gender | |||||
| Female | 21 (28%) | 9 (22.5%) | 15 (20%) | 0.339 | 0.811 |
| Male | 54 (72%) | 31 (77.5%) | 60 (80%) | ||
| BMI | 23.0±2.33 | 22.4±1.39 | 22.8±2.04 | 0.561 | 0.222 |
| AFP (ng/m L) | |||||
| ≤20 | 75 (100%) | 30 (75%) | 40 (53.3%) | <0.001 | 0.028 |
| >20 | 0 (0%) | 10 (25%) | 35 (46.7%) | ||
| Tumour size (cm) | |||||
| ≦2 | – | – | 22 | – | – |
| 2<&≦5 | – | – | 53 | – | – |
| Tumour differentiation | |||||
| I-II | – | – | 52 (69.3%) | – | – |
| III-IV | – | – | 23 (30.7%) | – | – |
| Child-Pugh | |||||
| A | – | 40 (100%) | 74 (98.7%) | – | 0.463 |
| B | – | 0 (0%) | 1 (1.3%) | – | |
| ALT (5–40 U/L) | 21.2±10.0 | 31.1±10.9 | 44.9±53.4 | 0.0002 | 0.111 |
| AST (8–40 U/L) | 22.3±5.19 | 31.1±10.2 | 43.4±38.3 | <0.0001 | 0.048 |
| GGT (11–50 U/L) | 22.7±14.2 | 30.3±18.6 | 59.6±49.7 | <0.0001 | 0.0005 |
| Total protein (64.0–83.0 g/L) | 74.4±3.3 | 79.7±36.9 | 67.2±5.8 | <0.0001 | 0.005 |
| Albumin (35.0–55.0 g/L) | 48.5±2.7 | 48.1±2.6 | 38.7±5.1 | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| Globulin (20.0–35.0 g/L) | 25.9±2.7 | 31.5±36.9 | 28.5±4.9 | <0.0001 | 0.486 |
| Total bilirubin (μmol/L) | 13.8±5.4 | 16.6±10.1 | 17.9±9.2 | 0.001 | 0.481 |
| Direct bilirubin (μmol/L) | 4.7±1.8 | 5.8±4.8 | 7.4±4.3 | <0.0001 | 0.066 |
| Prothrombin time (12–14 s) | ND | 12.9±0.9 | 12.6±1.4 | – | 0.187 |
| Platelets (83–303 10E9/L) | 217.7±53.4 | 245.9±49.3 | 139.2±69.7 | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| Aetiological factors | NO | HBV | HBV | – | – |
| Dietary habit | Mixed diet | Mixed diet | Mixed diet | ||
One-way analysis of variance was used to evaluate the difference among the three groups. Continuous variables were compared using Wilcoxon rank sum test between both groups. Fisher’s exact test compared categorical variables.
AFP, alpha-fetoprotein; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; BMI, body mass index; CTP score, Child- Turcotte-Pugh score; eHCC, early HCC; GGT, glutamyl transpeptidase; HBsAg, hepatitis B surface antigen; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; LC, liver cirrhosis; ND, no detection.