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

Table 4 Comparison of clinicopathological features at the time of biopsy between hepatocellular carcinoma and non- hepatocellular carcinoma groups in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients with advanced fibrosis (F3-4)

	HCC group (n = 9)	Non-HCC group (n = 68)	P value
Age (yr)	65 (56-84)	64 (30-81)	0.32
Male	3 (33)	14 (21)	0.39
Body mass index (kg/m2)	26.0 (18.3-28.7)	27.7 (20.1-41.0)	0.05
Drinking habit	6 (67)	21 (31)	0.03
Co-existing disease
Diabetes mellitus	8 (89)	32 (47)	0.02
Hypertension	9 (100)	38 (56)	0.01
Hyperlipidemia	3 (33)	35 (52)	0.31
Laboratory data
Albumin (mg/dL)	4.0 (3.7-4.6)	4.3 (3.2-5.0)	0.07
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)	0.91 (0.44-1.61)	0.91 (0.48-2.15)	0.99
Aspartate aminotransferase (IU/L)	52 (32-95)	63 (20-200)	0.13
Alanine aminotransferase (IU/L)	53 (16-132)	71 (19-298)	0.09
Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (IU/L)	65 (28-192)	65 (25-205)	0.75
Cholinesterase (IU/L)	249 (190-434)	345 (171-467)	0.02
Fasting blood sugar (mg/dL)	133 (84-172)	110 (82-215)	0.30
HOMA-IR	5.8 (1.2-9.8)	4.3 (1.1-15.6)	0.54
HbA1c (%)	6.6 (6.0-7.0)	6.1 (5.0-10.9)	0.14
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)	176 (153-264)	201 (131-294)	0.10
Triglyceride (mg/dL)	85 (64-140)	119 (42-351)	0.03
Platelet (×104/μL)	11.0 (6.4-18.6)	16.6 (5.3-32.6)	< 0.01
Hyaluronic acid (ng/mL)	42 (17-263)	59 (11-1180)	0.45
Type IV collagen 7s (ng/mL)	5.6 (4.7-8.4)	6.8 (3.5-20.0)	0.61
Alpha-fetoprotein (ng/mL)	6.0 (3.7-20.3)	5.0 (1.1-11.3)	0.04
Pathology
Steatosis			0.07
1	7 (78)	26 (38)
2	2 (22)	32 (47)
3	0 (0)	10 (15)
Lobular inflammation			0.45
0	0 (0)	1 (2)
1	2 (22)	17 (25)
2	7 (78)	37 (54)
3	0 (0)	13 (19)
Ballooning			0.76
0	1 (11)	1 (2)
1	6 (67)	34 (50)
2	2 (22)	33 (49)
NAFLD activity score			0.25
1	0 (0)	1 (2)
2	0 (0)	1 (2)
3	3 (33)	5 (7)
4	2 (22)	10 (15)
5	4 (44)	26 (38)
6	0 (0)	16 (24)
7	0 (0)	8 (12)
8	0 (0)	1 (2)

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.