CHI3L1 and hepatocellular carcinoma: The median pretreatment serum YKL-40 levels in 212 patients with HCC was 185μg/L (range, 12–1423), which was significantly higher than the level in 100 healthy controls after correction for age (median 51μg/L, range, 11–184 μg/L, 95th percentile is 106 μg/L) (P<0.001).