T cell exhaustion markers in hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma: Expression patterns and prognostic significance in an Egyptian cohort

Table 1 Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of study participants, mean ± SD/median (interquartile range)

Parameter	HCC (n = 50)	Cirrhosis (n = 50)	HCV (n = 50)	Controls (n = 50)	Test	P value
Age (years)	57.4 ± 8.2	55.9 ± 7.8	54.8 ± 8.0	54.2 ± 7.6	ANOVA	0.312
Sex (male/female)	34/16	32/18	31/19	30/20	χ2	0.894
ALT (U/L)	55.0 (48.0-63.0)	52.0 (46.0-61.0)	50.0 (44.0-58.0)	24.0 (20.0-28.0)	Kruskal-Wallis	< 0.001a
AST (U/L)	62.0 (54.0-70.0)	58.0 (50.0-66.0)	56.0 (49.0-62.0)	25.0 (21.0-29.0)	Kruskal-Wallis	< 0.001a
Albumin (g/dL)	3.2 ± 0.4	3.3 ± 0.4	3.5 ± 0.3	4.2 ± 0.3	ANOVA	< 0.001a
INR	1.42 ± 0.12	1.40 ± 0.11	1.35 ± 0.10	1.01 ± 0.05	ANOVA	< 0.001a

^aP < 0.001.

ANOVA adjusted for Child-Pugh class for hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis groups to control for liver function severity. All participants were adults (age > 18 years), with age and sex matched across groups to control for demographic confounders. ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; INR: International normalized ratio; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; HCV: Hepatitis C virus.