Of the 208 Chinese patients with histologically proven hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) seen during a 5-year period, 191 patients presented with symptomatic HCC and 17 patients with asymptomatic HCC (subclinical HCC, SCHCC) being picked up by α-fetoprotein (AFP) screening. Compared with the patients with symptomatic HCC, patients with SCHCC had a better performance status (p