APOB and hepatocellular carcinoma: As depicted in Fig. 2B, serum ApoB/ApoA1 ratio in patients suffering from advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinoma [0.89(0.71, 1.26)] were notably higher than those in patients subjected to early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma [0.47(0.35, 0.66)] and those in patients carrying middle-stage hepatocellular carcinoma [0.61(0.49, 0.74)] (P < 0.05); serum ApoB/ApoA1 ratio in patients with middle-stage hepatocellular carcinoma were significantly higher than those in patients suffering from early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (P < 0.05).