Table 1 Clinical and ultrasound characteristics of patients included in this study

Age (year)^a

55.0 (47.0–64.0)

55.0 (47.5–64.0)

55.0 (46.5–62.5)

0.346

Sex

0.354

 Male

173 (90.6)

115 (92.0)

58 (87.9)

 Female

18 (9.4)

10 (8.0)

8 (12.1)

Tumor size (cm)^a

5.3 (3.6–7.8)

4.7 (3.3–6.5)

7.7 (5.0–10.5)

< 0.001

BCLC stage

0.205

 Very early stage (0)

3 (1.6)

3 (2.4)

0 (0.0)

 Early stage (A)

188 (98.4)

122 (97.6)

66 (100.0)

Child-Pugh class

0.949

 A

185 (96.9)

121 (96.8)

64 (97.0)

 B

6 (3.1)

4 (3.2)

2 (3.0)

Edmondson-Steiner grade

0.099

 Grade I–II

88 (46.1)

63 (50.4)

25 (37.9)

 Grade III–IV

103 (53.9)

62 (49.6)

41 (62.1)

Microvascular invasion

< 0.001

 Absent

110 (57.6)

84 (67.2)

26 (39.4)

 Present

81 (42.4)

41 (32.8)

40 (60.6)

Cirrhosis of background liver

0.310

 Absent

139 (72.8)

88 (70.4)

51 (77.3)

 Present

52 (27.2)

79 (29.6)

15 (22.7)

AFP

0.006

 ≤ 20 U/L

90 (47.1)

68 (54.4)

22 (33.3)

 > 20 U/L

101 (52.9)

57 (45.6)

44 (66.7)

TBIL

0.816

 ≤ 17.1 µmol/L

138 (72.3)

91 (72.8)

47 (71.2)

 > 17.1 µmol/L

53 (27.7)

34 (27.2)

19 (28.8)

ALB

0.244

 < 35 g/L

164 (85.9)

110 (88.0)

54 (81.8)

 ≥ 35 g/L

27 (14.1)

15 (12.0)

12 (18.2)

ALT

0.751

 ≤ 40 U/L

133 (69.6)

88 (70.4)

45 (68.2)

 > 40 U/L

58 (30.4)

37 (29.6)

21 (31.8)

AST

0.005

 ≤ 40 U/L

116 (60.7)

85 (68.0)

31 (47.0)

 > 40 U/L

75 (39.3)

40 (32.0)

35 (53.0)

GGT

0.007

 ≤ 50 U/L

92 (48.2)

69 (55.2)

23 (34.8)

 > 50 U/L

99 (51.8)

56 (44.8)

43 (65.2)

HBV-DNA

0.178

 ≤ 100 IU/mL

88 (46.1)

62 (49.6)

26 (39.4)

 > 100 IU/mL

103 (53.9)

63 (50.4)

40 (60.6)

Intratumoral stiffness (kPa) ^a

32.1 (20.6–49.8)

31.5 (10.5–48.1)

35.7 (23.1–53.1)

0.179

Peritumoral stiffness (kPa) ^a

48.3 (30.4–62.7)

43.8 (28.2–60.5)

51.9 (39.4–66.3)

0.020

Adjacent liver stiffness (kPa) ^a

12.5 (9.5–18.7)

12.7 (9.5–18.3)

12.2 (9.7–21.4)

0.600

Distant liver stiffness (kPa) ^a

8.8 (7.0–11.4)

8.5 (6.8–10.6)

9.2 (7.3–12.0)

0.123