CRP and anemia: Anaemia was significantly associated with impaired liver function (Child–Pugh stage, P < 0.001; MELD score, P < 0.001), portal hypertension (P < 0.001), more advanced BCLC stage (P < 0.001), palliative first-line treatment (P < 0.001), elevated CRP level (P < 0.001) (Table 1), low serum ferritin level (P < 0.001), low serum transferrin level (P < 0.001), low transferrin saturation (P < 0.001), history of variceal bleeding (P < 0.001), high international normalised ratio (P < 0.001), non-selective beta-blocker intake (P < 0.001) and proton pump inhibitor intake (P < 0.001) (Table 2).