Adjuvant transarterial chemoembolization after curative resection of hepatocellular carcinoma: Propensity score analysis

Table 1 Baseline clinical characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma patients treated by curative resection alone or by resection followed by transarterial chemoembolization

Variable	Before propensity score matching			After propensity score matching
	TACE (n = 91)	Control (n = 138)	P value	TACE (n = 61)	Control (n = 61)	P value
Gender
Male	79	120	0.975	50	51	0.810
Female	12	18		11	10
Age, yr	49.8 ± 10.0	49.0 ± 12.5	0.585	50.1 ± 11.0	50.8 ± 11.0	0.693
BMI, kg/m2
< 23	48	99	0.003	41	42	0.846
≥ 23	43	39		20	19
HbsAg
Positive	76	119	0.572	50	52	0.625
Negative	15	19		11	9
Family history of HCC
Yes	21	29	0.712	13	12	0.823
No	70	109		48	49
Total bilirubin, μmol/L	14.1 ± 6.9	14.0 ± 6.7	0.950	13.4 ± 5.9	14.2 ± 7.4	0.451
Total serum protein, g/L	69.1 ± 6.0	69.7 ± 6.6	0.510	69.7 ± 6.2	70.0 ± 6.3	0.783
Albumin, g/L	41.2 ± 3.9	39.9 ± 5.1	0.042	40.1 ± 4.2	40.9 ± 4.2	0.675
ALT, U/L	38 (10-192)	35 (9-341)	0.572	38 (24-53)	33 (23-49)	0.536
AST, U/L	35 (16-181)	38 (17-410)	0.507	36 (30-50)	36 (29-51)	0.903
Prothrombin time, s	12.5 ± 1.6	13.1 ± 1.7	0.010	12.6 ± 1.4	12.6 ± 1.5	0.716
Platelet count, 109/L	181.1 ± 69.2	173.2 ± 78.8	0.436	183.8 ± 73.1	174.2 ± 70.8	0.401
AFP, ng/mL
< 400	73	98	0.117	42	45	0.548
≥ 400	18	40		19	16
Tumor size, cm	5.6 ± 3.0	6.2 ± 2.9	0.155	5.8 ± 2.8	5.8 ± 2.9	0.932
Tumor number
1	67	99	0.754	44	46	0.681
2 or 3	24	39		17	15
Liver cirrhosis
Positive	78	102	0.033	51	51	1.000
Negative	13	36		10	10
Antiviral therapies
Yes	76	119	0.572	50	52	0.625
No	15	19		11	9
Resection
Anatomic	39	60	0.926	26	25	0.854
Nonanatomic	52	78		35	36
Vascular occlusion
No	22	23	0.184	14	11	0.111
Pringle maneuver	42	80		29	40
Hemihepatic	27	35		18	10
Surgical margins, cm
≥ 1	65	106	0.359	44	41	0.691
< 1	26	32		17	19
Blood loss, mL	300 (200-500)	300 (200-500)	0.119	300 (200-500)	300 (175-500)	0.726
Blood transfusion
Yes	17	38	0.125	12	13	0.823
No	74	100		49	48
Tumor capsule
Complete	59	63	0.004	36	35	0.854
Incomplete	32	75		25	26
Edmondson grade
I or II	37	60	0.673	26	28	0.715
III or IV	54	78		35	33
BCLC stage
A	68	100	0.705	46	47	0.832
B	23	38		15	14

Data are presented as mean ± SD or median (interquartile range). AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; BCLC: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging system; BMI: Body mass index; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; HbsAg: Hepatitis B surface antigen; TACE: Transarterial chemoembolization.

Table 2 Univariate analyses to identify predictors of overall survival among all patients in the cohort

Variable	n	Overall survival (%)			Log-rankP value
		1-yr	2-yr	3-yr
AFP, ng/mL
< 400	171	89.4	80.8	74.7	0.007
≥ 400	58	82.6	68.6	55.7
Tumor size, cm
≤ 5	93	96.8	92.1	86.0	< 0.001
> 5	136	81.5	67.8	58.9
BCLC stage
A	168	89.3	80.1	74.2	0.020
B	61	83.4	70.7	59.1
Blood transfusion
Yes	55	76.4	66.7	54.9	0.030
No	174	91.3	81.1	74.3
Adjuvant TACE
Yes	91	93.4	86.4	79.2	0.012
No	138	84.1	71.9	63.7

AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; BCLC: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging system; TACE: Transarterial chemoembolization.