Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy with anti-angiogenesis agents and immune checkpoint inhibitors for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma and meta-analysis

Table 2 Baseline characteristics before or after propensity score matching, n (%)

Variable	Prior to PSM			Following PSM
	Triple therapy (n = 324)	AIPB (n = 118)	P value	Triple therapy (n = 88)	AIPB (n = 88)	P value
Age
Mean (SD)	50.2 (11.2)	55.4 (11.6)	< 0.001	54.2 (10.8)	53.9 (11.2)	0.859
Median [Min, Max]	51.0 [23.0, 80.0]	56.5 [23.0, 82.0]		55.0 [26.0, 78.0]	55.0 [23.0, 74.0]
Sex
Female	36 (11.1)	8 (6.8)	0.244	11 (12.5)	6 (6.8)	0.307
Male	288 (88.9)	110 (93.2)		77 (87.5)	82 (93.2)
ECOG PS
0	318 (98.1)	106 (89.8)	< 0.001	85 (96.6)	85 (96.6)	1
1	6 (1.9)	11 (9.3)		3 (3.4)	3 (3.4)
2	0 (0)	1 (0.8)		0 (0)	0 (0)
Hepatitis virus
Negative	27 (8.3)	15 (12.7)	0.228	11 (12.5)	12 (13.6)	1
Positive	297 (91.7)	103 (87.3)		77 (87.5)	76 (86.4)
ALT
mean (SD)	62.4 (72.8)	53.6 (34.9)	0.0894	58.4 (60.5)	53.2 (36.1)	0.489
Median [Min, Max]	44.6 [8.90, 930]	45.4 [6.10, 196]		41.1 [8.90, 448]	44.6 [6.10, 196]
AST
mean (SD)	92.5 (83.1)	88.3 (78.5)	0.627	82.0 (65.3)	87.1 (84.9)	0.657
Median [Min, Max]	66.2 [13.5, 702]	66.8 [11.1, 470]		58.7 [13.5, 327]	63.7 [11.1, 470]
Child-Pugh class
A	296 (91.4)	94 (79.7)	0.00133	75 (85.2)	77 (87.5)	0.826
B	28 (8.6)	24 (20.3)		13 (14.8)	11 (12.5)
AFP > 400 ng/mL
No	142 (43.8)	60 (50.8)	0.229	45 (51.1)	42 (47.7)	0.763
Yes	182 (56.2)	58 (49.2)		43 (48.9)	46 (52.3)
Maximum diameter of tumor/cm
mean (SD)	10.5 (4.25)	9.38 (4.75)	0.0291	9.86 (4.07)	9.57 (4.83)	0.668
Median [Min, Max]	10.3 [1.90, 23.5]	9.25 [1.10, 21.0]		10.0 [2.10, 19.2]	9.10 [1.10, 20.5]
Tumor number
Single	122 (37.7)	19 (16.1)	< 0.001	21 (23.9)	19 (21.6)	0.857
Multiple	202 (62.3)	99 (83.9)		67 (76.1)	69 (78.4)
Vascular invasion
No	78 (24.1)	42 (35.6)	0.0221	25 (28.4)	30 (34.1)	0.515
Yes	246 (75.9)	76 (64.4)		63 (71.6)	58 (65.9)
Extrahepatic metastasis
No	171 (52.8)	45 (38.1)	0.00888	34 (38.6)	38 (43.2)	0.646
Yes	153 (47.2)	73 (61.9)		54 (61.4)	50 (56.8)
BCLC
A	0 (0)	2 (1.7)	0.0632	0 (0)	2 (2.3)	0.309
B	30 (9.3)	11 (9.3)		7 (8.0)	9 (10.2)
C	294 (90.7)	105 (89.0)		81 (92.0)	77 (87.5)

AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; AIPB: Angiogenesis inhibitors and programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 blockers; triple therapy: Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy plus angiogenesis inhibitors and programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 blockers; PSM: Propensity score matching; BCLC: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; ECOG PS: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status.