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

Table 4 Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses for overall survival

Variables	Univariate analysis		Multivariate analysis
	HR (95%CI)	P value	HR (95%CI)	P value
Age	0.994 (0.972-1.015)	0.554
Sex	1.273 (0.710-2.282)	0.418
Etiology	1.444 (0.619-3.368)	0.396
AFP	1.215 (0.769-1.919)	0.405
ALT	1.062 (0.617-1.827)	0.828
AST	1.002 (1.000-1.004)	0.064
VEGF	1.000 (0.999-1.001)	0.780
Child-Pugh class	0.947 (0.594-1.512)	0.821
ECOG score
0	1.029 (0.393-2.690)	0.954
1	0.884 (0.490-1.595)	0.683
Tumor size	1.011 (1.003-1.020)	0.005a	1.010 (1.001-1.016)	0.032a
Tumor number	0.954 (0.842-1.081)	0.461
Metastasis	0.928 (0.556-1.548)	0.774
BCLC stage	1.209 (0.760-1.924)	0.423
Treatment methods
T + A	0.926 (0.499-1.720)	0.809
T + L	0.781 (0.408-1.492)	0.453
T + S	0.698 (0.358-1.360)	0.291
Total T lymphocytes	0.990 (0.968-1.012)	0.379
Suppressor/cytotoxic cells	0.992 (0.974-1.011)	0.421
Helper/inducible cells	0.999 (0.976-1.021)	0.903
Natural killer cell	1.007 (0.982-1.032)	0.590
B lymphocytes	1.031 (0.988-1.076)	0.164
Helper T cells/suppressor T cells	1.088 (0.885-1.337)	0.426
Regulatory cells	1.082 (1.008-1.161)	0.029a	1.074 (1.001-1.152)	0.046a
Proportion of PD-1+ in peripheral blood mononuclei	1.012 (0.972-1.054)	0.561
Proportion of PD-1+ in CD3+ cells	1.011 (0.983-1.041)	0.432
Proportion of PD-1+ in CD4+ cells	1.007 (0.981-1.034)	0.618
Proportion of PD-1+ in CD8+ cells	0.989 (0.963-1.015)	0.402
Absolute count of total lymphocytes	1.000 (1.000-1.000)	0.612
Absolute T lymphocyte count	1.000 (0.999-1.000)	0.784
Absolute count of CD3+CD4+ lymphocytes	1.000 (0.999-1.001)	0.926
Absolute count of CD3+CD8+ lymphocytes	0.999 (0.998-1.000)	0.096
CD4/CD8 ratio	0.992 (0.795-1.239)	0.945
Absolute NK cell count	1.000 (0.999-1.001)	0.527
Absolute B cell count	1.003 (1.001-1.005)	0.017a	1.002 (1.000-1.004)	0.108

^aP < 0.05.

AFP: Alpha fetoprotein; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; BCLC: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; ECOG: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; OS: Overall survival; 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; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor; PD-1: Programmed cell death protein 1; NK: Natural killer cell; HR: Hazard ratio; CI: Confidence interval.