Mild drinking habit is a risk factor for hepatocarcinogenesis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with advanced fibrosis

Table 2 Comparison of clinicopathological features at the time of biopsy between hepatocellular carcinoma and non- hepatocellular carcinoma groups

	HCC group (n = 9)	Non-HCC group (n = 292)	P value
Age (yr)	65 (56-84)	55 (10-81)	< 0.01
Male	3 (33)	133 (46)	0.52
Body mass index (kg/m2)	26.0 (18.3-28.7)	26.2 (17.8-41.0)	0.23
Drinking habit	6 (67)	87 (30)	0.02
Co-existing disease
Diabetes mellitus	8 (89)	102 (35)	< 0.01
Hypertension	9 (100)	113 (39)	< 0.01
Hyperlipidemia	3 (33)	187 (65)	0.06
Laboratory data
Albumin (mg/dL)	4.0 (3.7-4.6)	4.5 (3.0-5.4)	< 0.01
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)	0.91 (0.44-1.61)	0.88 (0.38-2.64)	0.75
Aspartate aminotransferase (IU/L)	52 (32-95)	46 (13-263)	0.71
Alanine aminotransferase (IU/L)	53 (16-132)	68 (13-522)	0.11
Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (IU/L)	65 (28-192)	56 (7-544)	0.48
Cholinesterase (IU/L)	249 (190-434)	380 (171-591)	< 0.01
Fasting blood sugar (mg/dL)	133 (84-172)	106 (77-221)	0.13
HOMA-IR	5.8 (1.2-9.8)	3.3 (0.3-42.6)	0.18
HbA1c (%)	6.6 (6.0-7.0)	5.9 (4.9-12.3)	0.01
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)	176 (153-264)	208 (70-336)	0.02
Triglyceride (mg/dL)	85 (64-140)	130 (32-801)	0.02
Platelet (×104/μL)	11.0 (6.4-18.6)	22.0 (5.3-45.4)	< 0.01
Hyaluronic acid (ng/mL)	42 (17-263)	42 (9-1180)	0.96
Type IV collagen 7s (ng/mL)	5.6 (4.7-8.4)	4.4 (2.0-20.0)	0.03
Alpha-fetoprotein (ng/mL)	6.0 (3.7-20.3)	3.0 (0.7-13.2)	< 0.01
Pathology
Steatosis			0.01
1	7 (78)	90 (31)
2	2 (22)	124 (43)
3	0 (0)	78 (27)
Lobular inflammation			0.21
0	0 (0)	13 (4)
1	2 (22)	128 (44)
2	7 (78)	125 (43)
3	0 (0)	26 (9)
Ballooning			0.76
0	1 (11)	58 (20)
1	6 (67)	162 (56)
2	2 (22)	72 (25)
NAFLD activity score			0.53
1	0 (0)	9 (3)
2	0 (0)	24 (8)
3	3 (33)	47 (16)
4	2 (22)	47 (16)
5	4 (44)	83 (28)
6	0 (0)	50 (17)
7	0 (0)	27 (9)
8	0 (0)	5 (2)
Fibrosis			< 0.01
0	0 (0)	57 (20)
1	0 (0)	132 (45)
2	0 (0)	35 (12)
3	4 (44)	56 (19)
4	5 (56)	12 (4)

Data are expressed as median (range) or n (%). HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; HOMA-IR: Homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance; HbA1c: Hemoglobin A1c; NAFLD: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.