Comparison of ethanol-soaked gelatin sponge and microspheres for hepatic arterioportal fistulas embolization in hepatic cellular carcinoma

Table 3 Outcome characteristics

Characteristics	E group (n = 46)	M group (n = 45)	χ2	P value
Tumor response after four months (%)			10.578	0.014
CR	18 (39.1)	8 (17.8)
PR	21 (45.7)	18 (40)
SD	4 (8.7)	15 (33.3)
PD	3 (6.5)	4 (8.9)
DCR	43 (93.5)	41 (91.1)		0.714
ORR	42 (91.3)	30 (66.7)	8.358	0.004
Immediate improvement of APF (%)			-	0.485
Yes	43 (93.5)	40 (88.9)	-
No	3 (6.5)	5 (11.1)
First-time follow-up APF improvement (%)			0.646	0.421
Improved	37 (80.4)	33 (73.3)
Not improved	9 (19.6)	12 (26.7)
AFP after 4 mo [ng/mL, median (IQR)]	28.48 (4, 257.9)	45.25 (4.43, 359.5)		0.045
Child-Pugh score after 4 mo (%)			5.321	0.083
A	33 (71.7)	23 (51.1)
B	10 (21.7)	20 (44.4)
C	3 (6.6)	2 (4.5)
OS, months (mean ± SD)	26.2 ± 1.4	20.6 ± 1.1	10.3	0.004
PFS, months (mean ± SD)	16.6 ± 1.0	13.8 ± 0.7	6.3	0.012

CR: Complete response; PR: Partial response; SD: Stable disease; PD: Progressive disease; DCR: Disease control rate; ORR: Objective response rate; APFs: Arterioportal fistulas; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; AP: Arterioportal; IQR: Interquartile range; OS: Overall survival; PFS: Progression-free survival.