ALB and hepatocellular carcinoma: At baseline, the group who later developed HCC (n = 26) (median follow up of 4.4 years; range of 0.4 to 8.5 years) had significantly lower white blood cell counts, platelet counts and albumin levels than the group who remained HCC-free (n = 64) during a median follow up of 7 years (range of 2.7 to 8.6 years).