Multidisciplinary treatment strategies for the assessment of immune, coagulation, and biomarker responses after transarterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 1 Comparative analysis of participant characteristics between the two groups

	Experimental group (n = 45)	Control group (n = 44)	χ2/t	P value
Gender, male/female	35 (77.78)/10 (22.22)	37 (84.09)/7 (15.91)	0.574	0.449
Age, years	61.55 ± 9.53	62.34 ± 10.34	0.375	0.709
BMI, kg/m2	24.03 ± 1.37	24.12 ± 1.65	0.280	0.780
NRS2002 score	2.86 ± 0.87	2.79 ± 1.03	0.347	0.730
Maximum tumor diameter, cm	5.79 ± 1.54	6.03 ± 1.48	0.749	0.456
BCLC staging, A/B/C	8 (17.78)/32(71.11)/ 5 (11.11)	7 (15.91)/35 (79.55)/2(4.55)	1.437	0.541
Liver function Child-Pugh grading, A/B	39 (86.67)/6 (13.33)	41 (93.18)/3 (6.82)		0.485
Smoking history, yes/no	29 (64.44)/16 (35.56)	33 (75.00)/11 (25.00)	1.173	0.279
Alcohol history, yes/no	27 (60.00)/18 (40.00)	32 (72.73)/12 (17.27)	1.613	0.204
Tumor family history, yes no	13 (28.89)/32 (71.11)	14 (31.82)/30 (68.18)	0.090	0.764
Chronic underlying disease, yes/no	26 (57.78)/19 (42.22)	23 (52.27)/11 (47.73)	0.801	0.371

Results expressed as means ± SD, or n (%). BMI: Body mass index; NRS2002: Nutritional Risk Score 2002; BCLC: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer.

Table 2 Comparative analysis of short-term efficacy between the two groups, n (%)

	Experimental group (n = 45)	Control group (n = 44)	P value
Overall response rate	43 (95.56)	35 (79.55)	0.027
CR	11 (24.44)	6 (13.64)
PR	25 (55.56)	17 (38.64)
SD	7 (15.56)	12 (27.27)
PD	2 (4.44)	9 (20.45)

CR: Complete response; PR: Partial response; SD: Stable disease; PD: Progression of disease.

Table 3 Comparative analysis of immunological biomarker responses between the two groups, mean ± SD

	Experimental group (n = 45)	Control group (n = 44)	F value	P value
CD3+, %			43.869	< 0.001
Before treatment	54.09 ± 5.33	53.93 ± 5.21	0.011	0.918
3 months after treatment	69.18 ± 7.03	59.46 ± 6.72
CD4+, %			39.005	< 0.001
Before treatment	32.64 ± 3.84	33.03 ± 3.79	1.223	0.272
3 months after treatment	45.18 ± 4.91	39.06 ± 4.23
CD8+, %			84.859	< 0.001
Before treatment	30.55 ± 4.52	31.13 ± 4.78	0.158	0.692
3 months after treatment	21.76 ± 2.15	26.35 ± 2.52
CD4+/CD8+			103.782	< 0.001
Before treatment	1.10 ± 0.24	1.09 ± 0.22	0.643	0.425
3 months after treatment	2.10 ± 0.33	1.50 ± 0.22

Table 4 Comparative analysis of coagulation biomarker responses between the two groups, mean ± SD

	Experimental group (n = 45)	Control group (n = 44)	F value	P value
APTT, second			3.105	0.082
Before treatment	36.52 ± 3.06	37.45 ± 3.34	0.024	0.878
3 months after treatment	31.27 ± 2.94	32.42 ± 3.15
D-D, μg/mL			0.686	0.105
Before treatment	1.68 ± 0.37	1.75 ± 0.33	0.048	0.826
3 months after treatment	1.51 ± 0.35	1.62 ± 0.25
Fbg, g/L			28.943	< 0.001
Before treatment	2.06 ± 0.56	1.89 ± 0.52	0.167	0.684
3 months after treatment	2.87 ± 0.59	2.15 ± 0.68
PT, second			14.511	< 0.001
Before treatment	12.26 ± 2.18	11.97 ± 2.42	1.250	0.267
3 months after treatment	9.25 ± 2.13	10.92 ± 2.10
TT, second			19.431	< 0.001
Before treatment	16.72 ± 2.08	16.53 ± 2.26	1.910	0.170
3 months after treatment	13.25 ± 2.17	15.42 ± 2.42

APTT: Activated partial thromboplastin time; D-D: D-dimer; Fbg: Fibrinogen; PT: Prothrombin time; TT: Thrombin time.

Table 5 Comparative analysis of tumor biomarker responses between the two groups, mean ± SD

	Experimental group (n = 45)	Control group (n = 44)	F value	P value
CEA, ng/mL			164.563	< 0.001
Before treatment	34.57 ± 2.35	34.62 ± 2.32	0.017	0.897
3 months after treatment	18.14 ± 1.27	22.59 ± 1.92
AFP, ng/mL			1019.687	< 0.001
Before treatment	434.52 ± 12.05	433.59 ± 12.16	0.831	0.364
3 months after treatment	251.25 ± 16.58	362.91 ± 16.38
PIVKA-II, mAU/mL			6.165	0.015
Before treatment	723.14 ± 201.20	724.34 ± 202.54	0.226	0.636
3 months after treatment	559.25 ± 157.45	643.82 ± 162.25
CA199, U/mL			257.831	< 0.001
Before treatment	254.81 ± 10.56	255.85 ± 10.06	2.111	0.150
3 months after treatment	179.58 ± 5.62	201.49 ± 7.28

CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; PIVKA-II: Abnormal prothrombin; CA199: Carbohydrate antigen 199.

Table 6 Comparative analysis of safety assessment between the two groups, n (%)

	Experimental group (n = 45)	Control group (n = 44)	χ2	P value
Adverse reaction	5 (11.11)	13 (29.55)	4.686	0.030
Decreased appetite	1 (2.22)	2 (4.55)
Diarrhea	1 (2.22)	1 (2.27)
Headache	0 (0.00)	1 (2.27)
Lethargy	1 (2.22)	3 (6.82)
Liver function damage	0 (0.00)	1 (2.27)
Rash	1 (2.22)	1 (2.27)
Abnormal blood pressure	0 (0.00)	1 (2.27)
Heart function abnormalities	0 (0.00)	1 (2.27)
Reactive telangiectasia	1 (2.22)	2 (4.55)