Transarterial embolization is an acceptable bridging therapy to hepatocellular carcinoma prior to liver transplantation

Table 3 Patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics of patients who underwent liver transplantation, n (%)

Variables	TACE	TAE	P value
Number	48	29
Age (yr), median (IQR)	60.5 (55.75, 65.25)	62 (53, 63)	0.458
Male sex	30 (62.5)	19 (65.5)	0.812
Diagnosis			0.385
HCV	37 (77.1)	25 (86.2)
HBV	4 (8.3)	1 (3.4)
Alcohol	3 (6.2)	3 (10.3)
NASH	4 (8.3)	0
Other	0	0
Calculated MELD score, median (IQR)	9 (8, 11.25)	11 (9, 12)	0.109
Pretransplant AFP, median (IQR)	11.7 (4.77, 46)	9.1 (4.4, 31.95)	0.668
Number of lesions			0.704
1	29 (60.4)	16 (55.2)
2	12 (25)	8 (27.6)
3	7 (14.6)	4 (13.8)
≥ 4	0	1 (3.4)
Largest tumor diameter, median (IQR)	2.8 (2.3, 3.8)	3.3 (2.5, 3.6)	0.333
Milan-out	5 (10.4)	8 (27.6)	0.064
Use of PEI	19 (39.6)	15 (51.7)	0.348
Complete pathological response	7 (14.6)	9 (31)	0.145
Vascular invasion	8 (16.7)	4 (13.8)	> 0.99

Milan-out refers to patients beyond the limits of the Milan criteria. TACE: Transarterial chemoembolization; TAE: Transarterial embolization; HCV: Hepatitis-C virus; HBV: Hepatitis-B virus; MELD: Model for End-Stage Liver Disease; PEI: Percutaneous ethanol injection; IQR: Interquartile range; NASH: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.