New stem cell autophagy surrogate diagnostic biomarkers in early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma in Egypt: A pilot study

Table 5 Alpha-fetoprotein laboratory results in the three subgroups

Variable	HCC (n = 34), median (IQR)	Chronic liver disease (n = 11), median (IQR)	Control (n = 5), median (IQR)		P value
AFP1 (ng/mL) by ELISA	62.60a (8.20–600.80)	3.50b (2.50–20.00)	0.70c (0.50–1.00)	19.17	< 0.001 HS

¹Kruskal–Wallis test (median and interquartile range).

^aP < 0.05.

^bP < 0.01.

^cP < 0.001.

AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; ELISA: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; HS: Highly significant; IQR: Interquartile range.