Table 2 Baseline characteristics of HCC patients receiving liver transplantation without preoperative treatment

Age, years

52.0 ± 9.3

52.6 ± 9.7

51.7 ± 9.1

0.618

 Gender, n (%)

0.400

  Male

104 (88.6%)

31 (86.1%)

73 (91.3%)

  Female

12 (10.3%)

5 (13.9%)

7 (8.8%)

 Etiology, n (%)

0.077

  HBV infection

100 (86.2%)

28 (77.8%)

72 (90.0%)

  others

16 (13.8%)

8 (22.2%)

8 (10.0%)

Cirrhosis, n (%)

113 (97.4%)

35 (97.2%)

78 (97.5%)

1.000*

 AFP, ng/mL, n (%)

0.178

  AFP ≤400

91 (78.4%)

31 (86.1%)

60 (75.0%)

  AFP > 400

25 (21.6%)

5 (13.9%)

20 (25.0%)

RDW

15.8 ± 3.1

16.2 ± 3.1

15.6 ± 3.1

0.312

NLR

4.39 ± 5.53

4.60 ± 6.03

4.89 ± 5.68

0.529

INR

1.41 ± 0.33

1.46 ± 0.29

1.39 ± 0.35

0.305

 TNM stage, n (%)

<  0.001*

  I

81 (69.8%)

32 (88.9%)

49 (61.3%)

  II

2 (1.7%)

2 (5.6%)

0 (0.0%)

  III

33 (28.4%)

2 (5.6%)

31 (38.8%)

 Tumor number, n (%)

0.011

  ≤3

93 (80.2%)

34 (94.4%)

59 (73.8%)

  > 3

23 (19.8%)

2 (5.6%)

21 (26.3%)

 Size of largest tumor, cm

0.059

  ≤5

83 (71.6%)

30 (87.5%)

53 (66.3%)

  > 5

33 (28.4%)

6 (12.5%)

27 (33.8%)

 Differentiation, n (%)

0.020*

  Well

5 (4.3%)

4 (11.1%)

1 (1.3%)

  Moderate

71 (61.2%)

26 (72.2%)

45 (56.3%)

  Poor

36 (31.0%)

5 (13.9%)

31 (38.8%)

  NA

4 (3.4%)

1 (2.8%)

3 (3.8%)

 Macrovascular invasion, n (%)

0.003

  Present

31 (26.7%)

3 (8.3%)

28 (35.0%)

  Absent

85 (73.3%)

33 (91.7%)

52 (65.0%)

 Child-Pugh class, n (%)

0.987

  A (5–6)

30 (25.9%)

9 (25.0%)

21 (26.3%)

  B (7–9)

60 (51.7%)

19 (52.8%)

41 (51.2%)

  C (≥ 10)

26 (22.4%)

8 (22.2%)

18 (22.5%)

 Milan criteria, n (%)

<  0.001

  Within

61 (52.6%)

28 (77.8%)

33 (41.3%)

  Out

55 (47.4%)

8 (22.2%)

47 (58.8%)

MELD score

11 (6–40)

14 (6–28)

10 (6–40)

0.758

Recurrence, n (%)

41 (35.3%)

6 (16.7%)

35 (43.8%)

0.005

Death, n (%)

32 (27.6%)

5 (13.9%)

27 (33.8%)

0.027