Correlation Analysis of Metabolic Characteristics and the Risk of Metabolic-Associated Fatty Liver Disease–Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is currently the most common chronic liver disease worldwide and the main cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To explore the risk factors of MAFLD-HCC, we evaluated the independent and combined effects of metabolic characteristics on the risk of MAFLD-HCC. We retrospectively analyzed 135 MAFLD-HCC patients who were treated at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from January 2015 to December 2020 and 137 MAFLD patients as the control group. Independent and joint effects of metabolic traits on the risk of HCC were evaluated. Each metabolic feature was significantly correlated with the increased risk of MAFLD-HCC ( p  < 0.05); obesity had the strongest correlation (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 3.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.66–5.70). In patients with superimposed features, HCC risk was higher with more metabolic features ( p  < 0.05). Patients with concurrent obesity, prediabetes, and hypertension had the highest risk of HCC (adjusted OR = 5.7, 95% CI = 1.47–21.78). The correlation between metabolic characteristics and risk of MAFLD-HCC in patients without cirrhosis was basically consistent with the overall analysis. Metabolic characteristics increase the risk of MAFLD-HCC, and the risk is positively correlated with the number of metabolic characteristics. Obesity has the strongest correlation with HCC.