Table 1 Demographics and clinicopathological characteristics of patients with HCC receiving liver transplantation

Age, years

52.9 ± 9.0

52.9 ± 9.1

52.9 ± 9.0

0.993

 Gender, n (%)

0.106

  Male

328 (88.6%)

53 (83.8%)

275 (89.9%)

  Female

42 (11.4%)

11 (16.2%)

31 (10.1%)

 Etiology, n (%)

0.011

  HBV infection

337 (91.1%)

53 (82.8%)

284 (92.8%)

  others

33 (8.9%)

11 (17.2%)

22 (7.2%)

Cirrhosis, n (%)

357 (96.5%)

63 (98.4%)

294 (96.1%)

0.707*

 AFP, ng/mL

0.354

  AFP ≤400

278 (75.1%)

51 (79.7%)

227 (74.2%)

  AFP > 400

92 (24.9%)

13 (20.3%)

79 (25.8%)

RDW

15.3 ± 2.8

16.0 ± 3.0

15.2 ± 2.7

0.035

NLR

4.80 ± 5.48

3.81 ± 4.32

4.89 ± 5.68

0.150

INR

1.28 ± 0.28

1.39 ± 0.30

1.25 ± 0.28

0.001

 TNM stage, n (%)

<  0.001*

  I

137 (37.0%)

39 (60.9%)

98 (32.0%)

  II

128 (34.6%)

17 (26.6%)

111 (36.3%)

  III

90 (24.3%)

8 (12.5%)

82 (26.8%)

  IV

15 (4.1%)

0 (0.0%)

15 (4.1%)

 Tumor number, n (%)

0.070

  ≤3

286 (77.3%)

55 (85.9%)

231 (75.5%)

  > 3

84 (22.7%)

9 (14.1%)

75 (24.5%)

 Size of largest tumor, cm

0.003

  ≤5

267 (72.2%)

56 (87.5%)

211 (69.0%)

  > 5

103 (27.8%)

8 (12.5%)

95 (31.0%)

 Differentiation, n (%)

0.023*

  Well

38 (10.3%)

7 (10.9%)

31 (10.1%)

  Moderate

197 (53.2%)

41 (64.1%)

156 (51.0%)

  Poor

128 (34.6%)

13 (20.3%)

115 (37.6%)

  NA

7 (1.9%)

3 (4.7%)

4 (1.3%)

 Macrovascular invasion, n (%)

0.015

  Present

90 (24.3%)

8 (12.5%)

82 (26.8%)

  Absent

280 (75.7%)

56 (87.5%)

224 (73.2%)

 Child-Pugh class, n (%)

0.047

  A (5–6)

159 (43.0%)

19 (29.7%)

140 (45.8%)

  B (7–9)

151 (40.8%)

34 (53.1%)

117 (38.2%)

  C (≥ 10)

60 (16.2%)

11 (17.2%)

49 (16.0%)

 Milan criteria, n (%)

<  0.001

  Within

176 (47.6%)

45 (70.3%)

131 (42.8%)

  Out

194 (52.4%)

19 (29.7%)

175 (57.2%)

MELD score

11 (6–40)

14 (6–28)

10 (6–40)

0.011

 Preoperative treatment, n (%)

<  0.001

  Yes

254 (68.6%)

28 (43.8%)

226 (73.9%)

   Liver resection

18 (4.9%)

4 (6.3%)

14 (4.6%)

0.529*

   TACE

80 (21.6%)

9 (14.1%)

71 (23.2%)

0.106

   RFA

15 (4.1%)

0

15 (4.9%)

0.048*

   Targeted therapy

2 (0.5%)

0

2 (0.7%)

1.000*

   Radiotherapy

3 (0.8%)

1 (1.6%)

2 (0.7%)

0.528*

   Other

19 (5.1%)

2 (3.1%)

17 (5.6%)

0.548*

   multiple

117 (31.6%)

12 (18.8%)

105 (34.3%)

0.015

  No

116 (31.4%)

36 (56.3%)

80 (26.1%)

Recurrence, n (%)

109 (29.5%)

11 (17.2%)

98 (32.0%)

0.018

Intrahepatic

40 (36.7%)

1 (9.1%)

39 (39.8%)

0.084

Thorax

43 (39.4%)

2 (18.2)

41 (41.8%)

0.115

Bone

19 (17.4%)

3 (27.3)

16 (16.3%)

0.390

Abdominal cavity

40 (36.7%)

6 (54.4%)

34 (34.7%)

0.184

Multiple

29 (26.6%)

1 (9.1%)

28 (28.6%)

0.274

Others

7 (6.4%)

1 (9.1%)

6 (6.1%)

Death, n (%)

116 (31.4%)

17 (26.6%)

99 (32.4%)

0.364