Successful initial ablation therapy contributes to survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 1 Characteristics of patients

Variables	All patients	PEI	RF ablation	P
	(n = 153)	(n = 43)	(n = 110)
Age (yr)
mean ± SD	69 ± 7	69 ± 7	68 ± 7	NS
Sex
Male/Female	93/60	22/21	71/39	NS
Etiology
HCV	134	38	96
HBV	8	1	7	NS
Alcohol	7	2	5
Others	4	2	2
Child-Pugh class
A/B	133/20	37/6	96/14	NS
Tumor size (cm)
≤ 3/> 3	120/33	33/10	87/23	NS
Tumor number
Single/Multiple	102/51	19/24	83/27	< 0.05
Serum alpha-fetoprotein level (ng/mL)
mean ± SD	781 ± 8180	2501 ± 15289	109 ± 282	NS
Serum PIVKA-II level (ng/mL)
mean ± SD	347 ± 1258	565 ± 1467	262 ± 1169	NS
Serum albumin level (g/dL)
mean ± SD	3.8 ± 0.5	3.7 ± 0.5	3.8 ± 0.5	NS
Initial treatment response
Successful/Unsuccessful	125/28	35/8	90/20	NS

RF: radiofrequency; PEI: percutaneous ethanol injection; NS: not significant; HCV: hepatitis C virus; HBV: hepatitis B virus; PIVKA-II: protein induced vitamin K absence or antagonist II.