Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of patients
| Characteristics | Before PSM | After PSM | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TACE + A group (n = 477) | TACE + AC group (n = 483) | p value | TACE + A group (n = 449) | TACE + AC group (n = 449) | p value | |
| Sex, male, n (%) | 382 (80.1) | 399 (82.6) | 0.357 | 367 (81.7) | 372 (82.9) | 0.727 |
| Age, (years), mean ± SD | 52.9 ± 9.6 | 52.6 ± 9.2 | 0.621 | 52.7 ± 9.1 | 52.7 ± 8.9 | 0.717 |
| ≤ 53, n (%) | 238 (49.9) | 247 (51.1) | 0.748 | 227 (50.6) | 227 (50.6) | > 0.999 |
| > 53, n (%) | 239 (50.1) | 236 (48.9) | 222 (49.4) | 222 (49.4) | ||
| ECOG PS, n (%) | 0.376 | 0.736 | ||||
| 0 | 265 (55.6) | 283 (58.6) | 256 (57.0) | 262 (58.4) | ||
| 1 | 212 (44.4) | 200 (41.4) | 193 (43.0) | 187 (41.6) | ||
| Number of lesions, n (%) | 0.305 | 0.541 | ||||
| ≤ 3 | 184 (38.6) | 203 (42.0) | 178 (39.6) | 188 (41.9) | ||
| > 3 | 293 (61.4) | 280 (58.0) | 271 (60.4) | 261 (58.1) | ||
| Tumor distribution, n (%) | 0.584 | 0.562 | ||||
| Bi-lobar | 157 (32.9) | 150 (31.1) | 142 (31.6) | 133 (29.6) | ||
| Uni-lobar | 320 (67.1) | 333 (68.9) | 307 (68.4) | 316 (70.4) | ||
| Maximum tumor diameter, cm | ||||||
| Mean ± SD | 12.39 ± 4.68 | 11.89 ± 5.06 | 0.112 | 12.27 ± 4.57 | 11.91 ± 4.95 | 0.247 |
| ≤ 10, n (%) | 182 (38.2) | 175 (36.2) | 0.583 | 171 (38.1) | 164 (36.5) | 0.679 |
| > 10, n (%) | 295 (61.8) | 308 (63.8) | 278 (61.9) | 285 (63.5) | ||
| Portal vein invasion, n (%) | 0.294 | 0.517 | ||||
| None | 73 (15.3) | 69 (14.3) | 71 (15.8) | 64 (14.3) | ||
| Vp1–2 | 246 (51.6) | 273 (56.5) | 234 (52.1) | 251 (55.9) | ||
| Vp3–4 | 158 (33.1) | 141 (29.2) | 144 (32.1) | 134 (29.8) | ||
| Hepatic vein invasion, n (%) | 98 (20.5) | 93 (19.3) | 0.675 | 89 (19.8) | 88 (19.6) | > 0.999 |
| Extrahepatic metastasis, n (%) | 89 (18.7) | 101 (20.9) | 0.427 | 87 (19.4) | 94 (20.9) | 0.618 |
| Etiology, n (%) | 0.071 | 0.208 | ||||
| HBV infection | 365 (76.5) | 399 (82.6) | 353 (78.6) | 365 (81.3) | ||
| HCV infection | 45 (9.4) | 27 (5.6) | 44 (9.8) | 27 (6.0) | ||
| Budd-chiari syndrome | 23 (4.8) | 22 (4.6) | 19 (4.2) | 22 (4.9) | ||
| Others | 44 (9.2) | 35 (7.2) | 33 (7.3) | 35 (7.8) | ||
| Child–Pugh stage, n (%) | 0.926 | 0.540 | ||||
| A | 193 (40.5) | 193 (40.0) | 185 (41.2) | 175 (39.0) | ||
| B | 284 (59.5) | 290 (60.0) | 264 (58.8) | 274 (61.0) | ||
| AFP (ng/mL), n (%) | 0.029 | 0.729 | ||||
| ≤ 400 | 162 (34.0) | 198 (41.0) | 162 (16,236.1) | 168 (37.4) | ||
| > 400 | 315 (66.0) | 285 (59.0) | 287 (63.9) | 281 (62.6) | ||
| BCLC stage, n (%) | 0.488 | 0.859 | ||||
| B | 75 (15.7) | 85 (17.6) | 75 (16.7) | 78 (17.4) | ||
| C | 402 (84.3) | 398 (82.4) | 374 (83.3) | 371 (82.6) | ||
| Type of the first TACE | 0.142 | 0.784 | ||||
| Drug-eluting bead TACE | 178 (37.3%) | 196 (40.6%) | 172 (38.3) | 176 (39.2) | ||
| Conventional TACE | 299 (62.7%) | 287 (59.4%) | 277 (61.7) | 273 (60.8) | ||
| Number of TACE | ||||||
| Median (IQR) | 3 (2,4) | 3 (2,4) | 0.089 | 3 (2,4) | 3 (2,4) | 0.891 |
| ≤ 2times, n (%) | 181 (37.9) | 177 (36.6) | 0.727 | 172 (38.3) | 169 (37.6) | 0.837 |
| > 2times, n (%) | 296 (62.1) | 306 (63.4) | 277 (61.7) | 280 (62.4) | ||
| Treatment duration of apatinib, months | ||||||
| Median (IQR) | 6 (4,8) | 6 (4,8) | 0.318 | 6 (4,8) | 6 (4,8) | 0.819 |
| ≤ 3, n (%) | 126 (26.4) | 127 (26.3) | > 0.999 | 118 (26.3) | 114 (25.4) | 0.477 |
| > 3, n (%) | 351 (73.6) | 356 (73.7) | 331 (73.7) | 335 (74.6) | ||
| Cycles of camrelizumab, cycles | NA | NA | ||||
| Median (IQR) | – | 7 (5,10) | – | 7 (5,10) | ||
| ≤ 8, n (%) | – | 221 (45.8) | – | 208 (46.3) | ||
| > 8, n (%) | – | 262 (54.2) | – | 241 (53.7) | ||
PSM Propensity score matching, TACE transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, A apatinib, C camrelizumab, SD standard deviation, ECOG PS Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status, Vp1 third branch portal vein invasion, Vp2 second branch portal vein invasion, Vp3 first branch portal vein invasion, Vp4 main portal vein invasion, HBV hepatitis B virus, HCV hepatitis C virus, AFP alpha- fetoprotein, BCLC Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer, IQR interquartile range