Clinical values of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer subgroup and up-to-7 criteria in intermediate stage hepatocellular carcinoma with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization

Table 1 General data of the patients

		All (n = 128)				OR (n = 66, 51.6%)		Non-OR (n = 62, 48.4%)			P value
		mean ± SD		n (%)		mean ± SD	n (%)	mean ± SD	n (%)
Age in yr		70.02 ± 13.04				70.48 ± 13.86		69.53 ± 12.21			0.6811
Male sex				98 (76.6)			49 (74.2)		49 (79.0)		0.5232
Viral hepatitis											0.1322
	HBV			56 (43.8)			26 (39.4)		30 (48.4)
	HCV			41 (32.0)			27 (40.9)		14 (22.6)
	HBV/HCV			4 (3.1)			1 (1.5)		3 (4.8)
	Nil			27 (21.1)			12 (18.2)		15 (24.2)
Cirrhosis, Child-Pugh											0.9852
	A			93 (72.7)			48 (72.7)		45 (72.6)
	B			35 (27.3)			18 (27.3)		17 (27.4)
Bilirubin in mg/dL		1.27 ± 0.99				1.18 ± 0.74		1.35 ± 1.20			0.3261
ALT in U/L		64.38 ± 67.61				57.91 ± 43.04		71.27 ± 86.30			0.2751
AFP as × 103 ng/mL		3.42 ± 8.86				2.52 ± 7.89		4.42 ± 6.84			0.4341
HCC number		4.20 ± 3.24				3.70 ± 2.84		4.74 ± 3.55			0.0701
HCC size in cm		7.98 ± 4.01				6.55 ± 2.98		9.50 ± 4.40			0.0011
Up-to-7 criteria											0.0012
	Within			45 (35.2)			33 (50.0)		12 (26.7)
	Beyond			83 (64.8)			33 (50.0)		50 (73.3)
Subclassification											0.0032
	B1			40 (31.3)			30 (45.5)		10 (16.1)
	B2			62 (48.4)			23 (34.8)		39 (62.9)
	B3			11 (8.6)			6 (9.1)		5 (8.1)
	B4			15 (11.7)			7 (10.6)		8 (12.9)

¹P values were analyzed with independent t test.

²Pearson’s χ² test.

AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; OR: Objective responder; SD: Standard deviation.

Table 2 The strength of association between clinical parameters and tumor objective response following transarterial chemoembolization

	Univariable analysis		Multivariable analysis
	HR (95%CI)	P value	HR (95%CI)	P value
Age	0.99 (0.97-1.02)	0.679
Sex	1.31 (0.57-2.98)	0.523
Viral hepatitis	0.75 (0.48-1.17)	0.209
Cirrhosis, Child-Pugh stage	0.99 (0.45-2.16)	0.156
ALT	1.00 (0.99-1.01)	0.281
AFP	1.00 (1.00-1.00)	0.478
HCC numbers	0.90 (0.81-1.00)	0.069	0.91 (0.81-1.02)	0.086
HCC size	0.81 (0.73-0.90)	0.002	0.81 (0.72-0.91)	0.002
Beyond up-to-7 criteria	0.24 (0.11-0.53)	0.004	0.25 (0.11-0.57)	0.009

AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; CI: Confidence interval; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; HR: Hazard ratios.

Table 3 Overall survivals of the enrolled patients, n (%)

		All, n	≥ 1 yr	≥ 2 yr	≥ 3 yr	P value
							All
128	83 (64.8)	60 (46.9)	40 (31.2)
HCC number						0.629
	2	45	26 (57.8)	19 (42.2)	13 (28.9)
	3-5	36	27 (75.0)	20 (55.6)	15 (41.7)
	> 5	47	30 (63.8)	21 (44.7)	12 (25.5)
HCC size in cm						0.001
	1-5	42	36 (85.7)	29 (69.0)	17 (40.5)
	6-10	59	38 (64.4)	26 (44.1)	19 (32.2)
	> 10	27	9 (33.4)	5 (18.5)	4 (14.8)
Up-to-7 criteria						0.003
	Within	45	36 (80.0)	31 (68.9)	22 (48.9)
	Beyond	83	47 (56.6)	29 (34.9)	18 (21.9)
Subclassification						0.049
	B1	40	12 (30.0)	8 (20.0)	20 (50.0)
	B2	62	39 (62.9)	10 (16.1)	13 (21.0)
	B3	11	8 (72.7)	0	3 (27.3)
	B4	15	9 (60.0)	2 (13.3)	4 (26.7)

P values were analyzed with Pearson’s χ² test. HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma.