Doxorubicin-eluting bead vs conventional transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma before liver transplantation

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study population n (%)

Variable	All treated patients (n= 38)	Type of TACE		P value
		DEB-TACE (n= 22)	c-TACE (n= 16)
Age at LT (yr)	56.5 ± 6.5	57.2 ± 6.5	55.6 ± 6.5	0.4545
Male gender	34 (89.5)	19 (86.4)	15 (93.7)	0.6245
MELD score	10 (6-27)	9 (6-27)	10 (7-16)	0.4688
Etiology of cirrhosis				0.1834
HCV-related	22 (57.9)	10 (45.5)	12 (75.0)
HBV-related	11 (28.9)	8 (36.3)	3 (18.7)
Non-viral	5 (13.2)	4 (18.2)	1 (6.3)
Waiting list time (mo)	3.1 (0.1-26.7)	2.9 (0.1-24.3)	3.3 (0.6-26.7)	0.5844
Interval between last TACE and LT (mo)	3.6 (0.1-15.9)	2.3 (0.2-13.8)	5.5 (0.9-15.9)	0.0625
Repeated TACE	20 (52.6)	12 (54.5)	8 (50.0)	0.7817
Adherence to MC at imaging before TACE				0.3243
Within MC	21 (55.3)	14 (63.6)	7 (43.7)
Beyond MC	17 (44.7)	8 (36.4)	9 (56.3)
BCLC stage before TACE				0.3243
A	21 (55.3)	14 (63.6)	7 (43.7)
B	17 (44.7)	8 (36.4)	9 (56.3)
Number of nodules before TACE	2 (1-5)	2 (1-5)	2 (1-5)	0.8708
Nodule number class before TACE				0.2222
1 nodule	16 (42.1)	8 (36.4)	8 (50.0)
1 < nodules < 4	13 (34.2)	10 (45.4)	3 (18.8)
Nodules ≥ 4	9 (23.7)	4 (18.2)	5 (31.2)
1Serum α-fetoprotein > 70 ng/mL	8/33 (24.2)	3/18 (16.7)	5/15 (33.3)	0.4811
Post-LT follow-up (mo)	39.9 ± 22.5	34.9 ± 19.0	46.8 ± 25.6	0.1065

Continuous variables are reported as the mean and standard deviation or median and range and compared using Student’s t test or the Mann-Whitney U test as appropriate. Categorical variables are reported as numbers and percentages.

¹Value of serum α-fetoprotein was not available for 5 patients. TACE: Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization; DEB: Doxorubicin-eluting bead; MC: Milan Criteria; LT: Liver transplantation; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; MELD: Model for End Stage Liver Disease; c-TACE: Conventional TACE; BCLC: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer.