Proposal of new expanded selection criteria using total tumor size and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose - positron emission tomography/computed tomography for living donor liver transplantation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: The National Cancer Center Korea criteria

Table 2 Clinicopathologic characteristics of patients according to National Cancer Center Korea criteria

Variables		Within NCCK (n = 164)	Beyond NCCK (n = 116)	P value
Sex, n (%)	Male	138 (84.1)	97 (83.6)	1
	Female	26 (15.9)	19 (16.4)
Age (yr), mean (SD)		54.2 (7)	54.7 (7.7)	0.561
MELD score, mean (SD)		14.4 (7.9)	12.5 (6.1)	0.029
C-reactive protein (mg/dL), mean (SD)		0.58 (1.11)	1.37 (2.67)	0.004
Tumor maximum SUV, mean (SD)		3.08 (0.64)	4.13 (1.79)	< 0.001
Tumor total size, n (%)	≤ 10 cm	164 (100)	56 (48.3)	< 0.001
	> 10 cm	0 (0)	60 (51.7)
AFP, n (%)	≤ 400 ng/mL	151 (92.1)	88 (75.9)	< 0.001
	> 400 ng/mL	13 (7.9)	28 (24.1)
PET/CT, n (%)	Negative	164 (100)	26 (22.4)	< 0.001
	Positive	0 (0)	90 (77.6)
Pretransplant therapy, n (%)	No therapy	39 (23.8)	29 (25)	0.77
	Surgery only	8 (4.9)	4 (3.4)
	TACE only	71 (43.3)	52 (44.8)
	RFA only	7 (4.3)	2 (1.7)
	Combination	39 (23.8)	29 (25)
Viral hepatitis, n (%)	HBV	142 (86.6)	103 (88.8)	0.442
	HCV	9 (5.5)	8 (6.9)
	NBNC	11 (6.7)	3 (2.6)
	HBV + HCV	2 (1.2)	2 (1.7)
Differentiation1, n (%)	I-II	102 (62.2)	55 (47.4)	0.02
	III-IV	62 (37.8)	61 (52.6)
Microvascular invasion, n (%)	Absent	127 (77.4)	47 (40.5)	< 0.001
	Present	37 (22.6)	69 (59.5)
Capsule formation, n (%)	No complete	134 (81.7)	94 (81)	1
	Complete	30 (18.3)	22 (19)
Ductal invasion, n (%)	Absent	161 (98.2)	109 (94)	0.123
	Present	3 (1.8)	7 (6)
Serosal invasion, n (%)	Absent	146 (89)	72 (62.1)	< 0.001
	Present	18 (11)	44 (37.9)
Intrahepatic metastasis, n (%)	Absent	129 (78.7)	55 (47.4)	< 0.001
	Present	35 (21.3)	61 (52.6)
Cirrhosis, n (%)	Absent	10 (6.1)	11 (9.5)	0.407
	Present	154 (93.9)	105 (90.5)
Dysplastic nodule, n (%)	Absent	120 (73.2)	81 (69.8)	0.633
	Present	44 (26.8)	35 (30.2)

¹Edmondson-Steiner Grade. HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; NBNC: Non-hepatitis B and non-hepatitis C virus; B + C: Hepatitis B and C virus; NCCK: National Cancer Center Korea; TACE: Transarterial chemoembolization; RFA: Radiofrequency ablation; PET/CT: Positron emission tomography/computed tomography; AFP: α-fetoprotein; MELD: Model for End-Stage Liver Disease; SUV: Standardized uptake value.