Table 2 The characteristics of HCC patients stratified by PM status

Development set

N

195

19

Age (years)

52.6 ± 9.2

53.0 ± 9.1

0.855

BMI (kg/m²)

24.2 ± 3.8

24.4 ± 3.5

0.780

Sex (male, %)

151 (77.4)

11 (57.9)

0.058

HBsAg (%)

173 (88.7)

17 (89.5)

0.921

Hepatitis C (%)

10 (5.1)

1 (5.3)

0.980

Cirrhosis (%)

179 (91.8)

17 (89.5)

0.728

Child Pugh score

0.810

  A

187 (95.9)

18 (94.7)

  B

8 (4.1)

1 (5.3)

Vascular invasion

 < 0.001

  No

176 (90.3)

10 (52.6)

  Yes

19 (9.7)

9 (47.4)

Tumor number

0.060

  Single

164 (84.1)

19 (100.0)

  Multiple

31 (15.9)

0 (0.0)

Tumor differentiation

0.099

  Poor

32 (16.4)

6 (31.6)

  Moderate/well

163 (83.6)

13 (68.4)

Capsule

0.004

  Complete

171 (87.7)

12 (63.2)

  Incomplete

24 (12.3)

7 (36.8)

Tumor size (cm)

4.7 ± 2.8

7.5 ± 3.5

 < 0.001

MELD score

-1.8 (-3.6 to -0.0)

-2.0 (-2.9 to 1.2)

0.422

FIB-4

1.9 (1.3–3.1)

2.3 (1.6–3.3)

0.327

APRI

0.6 (0.4–0.9)

0.7 (0.4–0.9)

0.714

PALBI

-3.3 (-3.6 to -3.0)

-3.3 (-3.7 to -3.2)

0.353

ALBI

-2.6 (-2.9 to -2.3)

-2.7 (-3.0 to -2.4)

0.201

AFP (ng/mL)

12.3 (3.9–174.3)

231.0 (22.6–11,894.3)

0.001

WBC (× 10⁹/L)

5.82 ± 1.92

6.06 ± 3.48

0.634

Haemoglobin (g/L)

142.5 ± 16.3

137.4 ± 25.7

0.404

Platelet count (× 10⁹/L)

160.3 ± 64.3

174.0 ± 50.5

0.367

MPV (fL)

10.7 ± 1.5

10.2 ± 1.1

0.175

PDW (%)

15.4 ± 2.3

13.3 ± 2.3

 < 0.001

INR

1.05 ± 0.08

1.08 ± 0.17

0.255

Albumin (g/L)

39.4 ± 4.6

40.9 ± 4.7

0.158

AST (U/L)

35 (28–47)

38 (34–56)

0.137

ALT (U/L)

40 (28–53)

31 (26–50)

0.250

γ-GGT (U/L)

49 (32–84)

48 (34–76)

0.927

Total bilirubin (μmol/L)

13.9 (10.4–18.7)

14.6 (10.4–21.2)

0.423

Creatinine (μmol/L)

76.8 ± 15.1

76.6 ± 14.2

0.967

Validation set

N

98

11

Age (years)

53.2 ± 9.8

47.9 ± 11.9

0.099

BMI (kg/m²)

22.1 ± 2.6

21.0 ± 2.3

0.193

Sex (male, %)

76 (77.6)

6 (54.5)

0.094

HBsAg (%)

60 (61.2)

5 (45.5)

0.312

Hepatitis C (%)

2 (2.0)

0 (0)

0.632

Cirrhosis (%)

40 (40.8)

1 (9.1)

0.039

Child Pugh score

0.048

   A

79 (80.6)

6 (54.5)

  B

19 (19.4)

5 (45.5)

Vascular invasion

0.063

  No

24 (24.5)

0 (0)

  Yes

74 (75.5)

11 (100.0)

Tumor number

0.311

  Single

83 (84.7)

8 (72.7)

  Multiple

15 (15.3)

3 (27.3)

Tumor differentiation

0.212

  Poor

43 (43.9)

7 (63.6)

  Moderate/well

55 (56.1)

4 (36.4)

Capsule

0.591

  Complete

70 (71.4)

7 (63.6)

  Incomplete

28 (28.6)

4 (36.4)

Tumor size (cm)

5.6 ± 3.5

13.0 ± 3.4

 < 0.001

MELD score

-1.4 (-4.0 to -1.3)

-4.3 (-6.3 to-1.6)

0.041

FIB-4

2.0 (1.3–3.3)

0.9 (0.4–3.1)

0.103

APRI

0.7 (0.4–1.2)

0.4 (0.2–1.2)

0.300

PALBI

-4.8 (-5.2 to -4.1)

-5.3 (-5.8 to -4.7)

0.050

ALBI

-2.0 (-2.4 to -1.7)

-2.0 (-2.5 to -1.8)

0.904

AFP (ng/mL)

16.2 (4.5–416.4)

415.7 (94.4–1000.0)

0.001

WBC (× 10⁹/L)

8.45 ± 4.08

7.80 ± 2.98

0.609

Haemoglobin (g/L)

123.9 ± 22.3

107.0 ± 31.3

0.024

Platelet count (× 10⁹/L)

171.8 ± 87.0

232.3 ± 108.3

0.035

MPV (fL)

11.2 ± 1.1

10.7 ± 0.5

0.134

PDW (%)

13.4 ± 2.1

11.2 ± 1.1

 < 0.001

INR

1.21 ± 0.27

1.17 ± 0.11

0.613

Albumin (g/L)

34.4 ± 5.9

33.6 ± 5.9

0.639

Creatinine (μmol/L)

60.8 ± 13.9

59.7 ± 27.0

0.902

AST (U/L)

38 (27–57)

56 (24–73)

0.794

ALT (U/L)

52 (31–87)

50 (26–203)

0.665

γ-GGT (U/L)

78 (42–134)

77 (65–252)

0.289

Total bilirubin (μmol/L)

18.9 (14.6–26.0)

14.0 (10.4–25.4)

0.155