Immune effect and prognosis of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and tyrosine kinase inhibitors therapy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 3 Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses for progression-free survival

Variables	Univariate analysis		Multivariate analysis
	HR (95%CI)	P value	HR (95%CI)	P value
Age	0.989 (0.968-1.010)	0.302
Sex	0.964 (0.538-1.725)	0.901
Etiology	1.242 (0.537-2.873)	0.612
AFP	1.318 (0.845-2.057)	0.224
ALT	1.002 (0.999-1.005)	0.309
AST	1.001 (0.999-1.003)	0.518
VEGF	1.000 (0.999-1.001)	0.798
Child-Pugh class	1.135 (0.721-1.788)	0.585
ECOG score
0	0.925 (0.338-2.534)	0.880
1	0.980 (0.562-1.708)	0.943
Tumor size	1.011 (1.004-1.019)	0.002a	1.009 (1.001-1.017)	0.023a
Tumor number	0.974 (0.860-1.103)	0.677
Metastasis	0.947 (0.578-1.554)	0.831
BCLC stage	1.436 (0.914-2.254)	0.116
Treatment methods
T + A	0.722 (0.396-1.317)	0.288
T + L	0.608 (0.321-1.152)	0.608
T + S	0.586 (0.300-1.145)	0.118
Total T lymphocytes	0.986 (0.966-1.008)	0.211
Suppressor/cytotoxic cells	0.998 (0.981-1.016)	0.859
Helper/inducible cells	0.976 (0.954-0.998)	0.033a	0.982 (0.959-1.006)	0.133
Natural killer cell	1.016 (0.991-1.043)	0.210
B lymphocytes	1.024 (0.984-1.065)	0.252
Helper T cells/suppressor T cells	1.017 (0.823-1.257)	0.873
Regulatory cells	1.100 (1.033-1.172)	0.003a	1.063 (0.989-1.144)	0.098
Proportion of PD-1+ in peripheral blood mononuclei	1.014 (0.975-1.054)	0.498
Proportion of PD-1+ in CD3+ cells	1.011 (0.984-1.039)	0.410
Proportion of PD-1+ in CD4+ cells	1.010 (0.985-1.037)	0.435
Proportion of PD-1+ in CD8+ cells	0.975 (0.946-0.999)	0.040a	0.966 (0.938-0.995)	0.022a
Absolute count of total lymphocytes	1.000 (1.000-1.000)	0.782
Absolute T lymphocyte count	1.000 (0.999-1.000)	0.451
Absolute count of CD3+CD4+ lymphocytes	1.000 (0.999-1.001)	0.477
Absolute count of CD3+CD8+ lymphocytes	0.998 (0.997-0.999)	0.002a	0.998 (0.997-0.999)	0.001a
CD4/CD8 ratio	0.934 (0.741-1.177)	0.564
Absolute NK cell count	1.001 (1.000-1.002)	0.168
Absolute B cell count	1.002 (1.000-1.004)	0.085

^aP < 0.05.

T + A: Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization combined with apatinib group; T + L: Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization combined with lenvatinib group; T + S: Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization combined with sorafenib group; AFP: Alpha fetoprotein; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; BCLC: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; ECOG: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor; PD-1: Programmed cell death protein 1; NK: Natural killer cell; HR: Hazard ratio; CI: Confidence interval.