Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the entire study population

Male

183

(65.6)

168

(64.4)

15

(83.3)

0.101

Age, year

59.0

± 12.8

58.3

± 12.8

68.9

± 9.4

< 0.001

BMI, kg/m²

23.7

± 4.0

23.7

± 4.0

23.6

± 3.8

0.959

HCV genotype

0.126

 1a

13

(4.7)

12

(4.6)

1

(5.6)

 1b

136

(49.1)

127

(49.0)

9

(50)

 2

7

(2.5)

5

(1.9)

2

(11.1)

 3

22

(7.9)

20

(7.7)

2

(11.1)

 6

99

(35.7)

95

(36.7)

4

(22.2)

HCV viral load before DAA therapy, × 10⁶ IU/ml

3.4

± 9.1

3.6

± 9.4

1.6

± 1.9

0.129

DAA therapy duration, weeks

0.071

Haemoglobin, g/dL

13.8

± 2.0

13.8

± 2.0

13.2

± 1.9

0.202

Platelets, × 10⁹/L

172.0

± 71.3

175.7

± 71.1

119.8

± 52.1

< 0.001

Creatinine, umol/L

85.0

± 84.6

85.1

± 87.2

83.7

± 27.1

0.333

ALT at the start of DAA therapy, IU/L

85.9

± 109.9

85.7

± 111.8

87.6

± 79.0

0.919

ALT at the end of DAA therapy, IU/L

24.1

± 19.2

24.2

± 19.7

22.4

± 7.9

0.408

Total bilirubin, umol/L

13.4

± 7.1

12.9

± 6.4

20.5

± 11.8

0.005

Albumin, g/L

37.9

± 5.2

38.2

± 5.0

33.6

± 5.6

< 0.001

INR

1.06

± 0.08

1.06

± 0.08

1.14

± 0.12

< 0.001

Prothrombin time, second

11.7

± 1.1

11.6

± 1.1

12.8

± 1.5

< 0.001

AFP at the start of DAA therapy, ng/ml

11.1

± 25.6

10.0

± 24.7

26.4

± 33.2

< 0.001

AFP at the end of DAA therapy, ng/ml

4.5

± 5.3

4.1

± 5.0

9.2

± 6.9

< 0.001

HBV co-infection

16

(5.7)

16

(6.1)

0.609

HIV co-infection

20

(7.2)

20

(7.7)

0.627

Diabetes mellitus

49

(17.6)

48

(18.4)

1

(5.6)

0.214

Cirrhosis

131

(47.0)

115

(44.1)

16

(88.9)

< 0.001

Liver stiffness, kPa

0.004

Fatty liver

103

(36.9)

100

(38.3)

3

(16.7)

0.066

SVR 12

276

(98.9)

258

(98.9)

18

(100)

1

Evidence of portal hypertension

65

(23.3)

54

(20.7)

11

(61.1)

< 0.001

History of anti-viral treatment before DAA therapy

74

(26.5)

69

(26.4)

5

(27.8)

1

HCV infection suspected to be via previous intra-venous drug abuse

119

(42.7)

113

(43.3)

6

(33.3)

0.409

HCV infection suspected to be via previous blood transfusion

60

(21.5)

59

(22.6)

1

(5.6)

0.135

Time between latest imaging (before DAA) till DAA start date, months

15.5

± 22.6

16.1

± 23.2

6.7

± 7.9

0.059

AFP at diagnosis of previous HCC before DAA therapy, ng/ml

90.2

± 104.8

–

Previous HCC nodule before DAA therapy:

 Single

16

(88.9)

–

 Multiple

1

(5.6)

–

Maximum HCC nodule size (before DAA therapy), cm

2.7

± 1.6

–

Previous HCC treatment before DAA therapy:

 Resection

4

(22.2)

–

 Ablation ± TACE

14

(77.8)

–

Time between last HCC treatment till latest imaging before DAA, months

14.9

± 24.5

–

Time between last HCC treatment till DAA therapy start, months

21.5

± 30.7

–