Variable | Included studies | Test of association | Test of heterogeneity | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SMD | 95%CI | P-value* | Modal | P-value | I2 | ||
HCC vs Healthy controls | |||||||
 Overall | 4.32 | 2.41, 6.24 | 0.000 | RE | 0.000 | 98.4% | |
 HCC(unreported reason) vs Healthy controls | 5.58 | −5.11, 16.26 | 0.306 | RE | 0.000 | 98.8% | |
 Viral cirrhotic HCC vs Healthy controls | 1.02 | − 0.78, 2.79 | 0.263 | RE | 0.000 | 94.1% | |
 HCV-related HCC vs Healthy controls | 8.87 | − 1.08, 1.82 | 0.081 | RE | 0.000 | 98.7% | |
HCC vs Cirrhosis | |||||||
 Overall | 1.85 | 0.70, 3.01 | 0.002 | RE | 0.000 | 97.0% | |
 HCV-related cirrhotic HCC vs HCV-related cirrhosis | 0.82 | 0.40, 1.24 | 0.000 | FE | 0.145 | 53.0% | |
 HCV-related HCC vs HCV-related cirrhosis | 8.71 | −3.84, 21.25 | 0.174 | RE | 0.000 | 99.2% | |
 Viral cirrhotic HCC vs Viral cirrhosis | 0.13 | −0.11,0.37 | 0.302 | FE | 0.591 | 0 | |
HCC vs Chronic hepatitis | |||||||
 Overall | 0.94 | −0.15, 2.03 | 0.090 | RE | 0.000 | 94.9% | |
 HCV-related HCC vs Chronic hepatitis C | 1.63 | −1.39, 4.65 | 0.290 | RE | 0.000 | 96.0% | |
 Viral cirrhotic HCC vs Chronic hepatitis C | −0.10 | − 0.51,0.32 | 0.643 | FE | 0.561 | 0 | |
Ethnicity | |||||||
 Asian | 0.10 | −0.50, 0.70 | 0.751 | RE | 0.000 | 85.6% | |
 Caucasian | 0.58 | −0.06, 1.22 | 0.077 | RE | 0.000 | 93.3% | |
 African | 9.36 | −1.27, 19.99 | 0.084 | RE | 0.000 | 99.3% | |
Sample size | |||||||
 < 100 | 1.57 | 0.22, 2.91 | 0.022 | RE | 0.000 | 95.8% | |
 ≥ 100 | 2.23 | 1.21, 3.26 | 0.000 | RE | 0.000 | 98.4% | |
Mean age | |||||||
 < 60 | 2.87 | 1.57, 4.17 | 0.000 | RE | 0.000 | 98.2% | |
 ≥ 60 | 0.76 | 0.03, 1.49 | 0.040 | RE | 0.000 | 93.7% | |
Study design | |||||||
 Case-control | 3.81 | 1.83, 5.79 | 0.000 | RE | 0.000 | 97.5% | |
 Nested Case-control | 0.14 | 0.01, 0.26 | 0.035 | FE | 0.777 | 0.0% | |
Assay method | |||||||
 ELISA | 2.13 | 1.27, 2.99 | 0.000 | RE | 0.000 | 97.9% | |
 RIA | 0.79 | 0.39, 1.19 | 0.000 | FE | 0.570 | 0.0% | |
Alanine aminotransferase | |||||||
 < 70 U/L | 4.42 | 2.26, 6.50 | 0.000 | RE | 0.000 | 98.6% | |
 ≥ 70 U/L | 0.43 | −0.38, 1.23 | 0.296 | RE | 0.000 | 94.4% | |
Albumin | |||||||
 < 3.5 g/dl | 3.47 | 1.28, 5.66 | 0.002 | RE | 0.000 | 98.7% | |
 ≥ 3.5 g/dl | 0.12 | −0.02, 0.26 | 0.091 | FE | 0.633 | 0.0% |