AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma: Based on the retrospective cohort design, patients with HCC were older (mean age: 64.5 ± 10.5 vs. 60.2 ± 11.5, respectively, p < 0.0001), had lower AST (p = 0.0135) and ALT levels (p = 0.0002), had lower pretreatment platelet counts (p = 0.0006), had higher AFP levels (≥20 ng/mL) (p = 0.0018), were more likely to have concomitant diabetes mellitus (DM) (p = 0.0055), had higher FIB-4 values (≥ 4.1)(p < 0.0001), had lower HBsAg-HQ contents (×107 mIU/mL) (≤3 vs. >3, p = 0.0086), and had higher HBcrAg contents (>4.9 logU/mL) (p = 0.0485).