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World J Gastrointest Oncol. Sep 15, 2026; 18(9): 119082
Published online Sep 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.119082
Published online Sep 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.119082
Pathological characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma: A dual-center correlation analysis and validation
Hai-Bo Huang, Ying-Dan Zhang, Jie Yang, Li-Feng Huang, Ke Ding, Department of Radiology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530031, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Ying-Ying Huang, Ze-He Huang, Department of Radiology, The First People’s Hospital of Qinzhou, Qinzhou 530550, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Shuang-Yue Wang, Department of Oncology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530031, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Wei Lu, Department of Pathology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530031, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Co-first authors: Hai-Bo Huang and Ying-Dan Zhang.
Co-corresponding authors: Ze-He Huang and Ke Ding.
Author contributions: Huang HB and Zhang YD performed formal and statistical analyses, and drafted the original manuscript, they contributed equally to this article, they are the co-first authors of this manuscript; Huang HB, Huang ZH, and Ding K conceptualized the work, supervised the project, and critically revised the manuscript; Zhang YD, Yang J, Huang YY, and Lu W curated and validated the data; Yang J, Huang LF, and Wang SY conducted investigations, developed methodologies, and provided resources; Ding K secured funding and additional resources; Huang ZH and Ding K contributed equally to this article, they are the co-corresponding authors of this manuscript; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: AI tools (DeepSeek-R1) was indeed used during the drafting process, primarily to help translate the reviewers’ comments and polish the English wording of our responses. Academic judgments such as the study design and interpretation of results were made entirely by the authors without any AI involvement.
Supported by Self-Raised Research Projects from the Health Commission of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, No. Z20200953.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Medical Ethics Committee of Nanning Second People’s Hospital (the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University), approval No. Y2025341.
Informed consent statement: The requirement for informed consent was waived by the ethics committee owing to the retrospective nature of the study and the use of fully anonymized data.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are not publicly available owing to hospital data governance policies but are available from the corresponding author (Ke Ding, 272480365@qq.com) upon reasonable request, subject to approval by the Ethics Committee of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University.
Corresponding author: Ke Ding, MD, Professor, Department of Radiology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, No. 13 Dancun Road, Nanning 530031, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. 272480365@qq.com
Received: January 26, 2026
Revised: March 28, 2026
Accepted: May 14, 2026
Published online: September 15, 2026
Processing time: 213 Days and 4.5 Hours
Revised: March 28, 2026
Accepted: May 14, 2026
Published online: September 15, 2026
Processing time: 213 Days and 4.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This dual-center retrospective study validates a tightly linked aggressive pathological cluster (Edmondson grade, microvascular invasion, satellite nodules, Ki-67) in hepatocellular carcinoma. We identify Ki-67 as a core, reproducible biomarker, with a validated cutoff of 32.5% demonstrating high specificity (0.813) for predicting satellite nodules positivity across two independent centers. These findings provide multicenter pathological evidence to inform postoperative risk stratification and adjuvant therapy decisions.