Hepatocellular carcinoma in F0 livers: Clinical and prognostic insights

Table 1 Comparison of background characteristics between F0 and F4 hepatocellular carcinoma, mean ± SD

	F0 HCC (n = 42)	F4 HCC (n = 105)	P value
Sex (male/female)	36/6	62/43	0.002
Age (year)	77.9 ± 7.5	70.2 ± 8.1	< 0.001
Body mass index (kg/m2)	23.6 ± 3.2	24.1 ± 3.6	0.481
Platelet count (104/μL)	20.7 ± 5.3	11.9 ± 7.8	< 0.001
Albumin (g/dL)	3.9 ± 0.6	3.8 ± 0.4	0.302
Total bilirubin (g/dL)	0.7 ± 0.3	0.9 ± 0.3	0.011
Aspartate aminotransferase (U/L)	42.3 ± 48.0	42.0 ± 21.6	0.958
Alanine aminotransferase (U/L)	28.1 ± 32.4	34.1 ± 23.2	0.216
Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (U/L)	114 ± 171	81.4 ± 82.1	0.249
Prothrombin time (%)	101 ± 17.7	87.7 ± 17.7	< 0.001
Alpha-fetoprotein (ng/mL)	2981 ± 6988	2804 ± 18478	0.956
Des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (mAU/mL)	34031 ± 138072	4333 ± 28027	0.222
Albumin-bilirubin grade	-2.61 ± 0.46	-2.46 ± 0.39	0.056
Fibrosis-4 index	3.14 ± 2.52	5.47 ± 2.99	< 0.001
Aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index	0.74	1.45	< 0.001
Hypertension (yes/no)	28/14	59/46	0.243
Diabetes mellitus (yes/no)	19/23	35/70	0.176
Cardiovascular disease (yes/no)	10/32	16/89	0.219
Significant alcohol use (yes/no)	16/26	37/68	0.744
Etiology (B/C/negative for both hepatitis B and C)	5/4/33	22/54/30	< 0.001
Tumor number (solitary/multiple)	37/5	79/26	0.371
Largest tumor diameter (mm)	84.7 ± 44.2	57.2 ± 37.6	0.035
Tumor differentiation (well/moderate/poor)	13/26/3	20/65/12	0.337
Vascular invasion (yes/no)	26/16	84/21	0.034

HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma.

Table 2 Factors contributing to recurrence in F0 hepatocellular carcinoma

	Univariate analysis		Multivariate analysis
	HR (95%CI)	P value	HR (95%CI)	P value
Sex (male)	1.261 (0.606-1.261)	0.535
Age	1.031 (0.974-1.092)	0.292
Body mass index (kg/m2)	0.906 (0.788-1.042)	0.166
Platelet count (104/μL)	0.990 (0.907-1.082)	0.828
Albumin (g/dL)	0.538 (0.231-1.255)	0.151
Total bilirubin (g/dL)	1.809 (0.473-6.925)	0.386
Aspartate aminotransferase (U/L)	1.005 (0.999-1.010)	0.122
Alanine aminotransferase (U/L)	1.021 (1.005-1.037)	0.008	1.010 (0.990-1.031)	0.319
Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (U/L)	1.001 (0.999-1.003)	0.195
Prothrombin time (%)	0.997 (0.951-1.004)	0.089
Alpha-fetoprotein (ng/mL)	1.000 (1.000-1.000)	0.810
Des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (mAU/mL)	1.000 (1.000-1.000)	0.625
Hemoglobin A1c (%)	0.440 (0.205-0.945)	0.035	0.624 (0.310-1.254)	0.185
Albumin-bilirubin grade	2.568 (0.978-6.742)	0.056
Fibrosis-4 index	1.108 (0.987-1.244)	0.083
Hypertension (yes)	1.232 (0.489-3.103)	0.658
Diabetes mellitus (yes)	1.938 (0.771-4.869)	0.159
Cardiovascular disease (yes)	0.641 (0.245-1.673)	0.363
Smoking (yes)	1.265 (0.516-3.101)	0.608
Significant alcohol use (yes)	1.334 (0.531-3.350)	0.540
Negative for both hepatitis B and C (yes)	0.785 (0.262-2.353)	0.666
Hepatitis C virus (yes)	25.586 (0.083-7906)	0.268
Tumor number (multiple)	5.217 (1.801-15.117)	0.002	4.452 (1.288-15.393)	0.018
Largest tumor diameter(mm)	1.012 (1.001-1.022)	0.028	1.003 (0.989-1.018)	0.269
Vascular invasion (yes)	2.530 (1.077-5.940)	0.033	2.133 (0.644-7.062)	0.682

HR: Hazard ratio.