Table 1.
Comparison of Baseline Parameters Between CRP Flare-Responders, CRP Responders and CRP Non-Responders
| Characteristic | Overall N=132 |
Flare-Responder N=29 |
Responder N=45 |
Non-Responder N=58 |
p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | 0.816 | ||||
| male | 120 (90.9%) | 27 (93.1%) | 40 (88.9%) | 53 (91.4%) | |
| female | 12 (9.1%) | 2 (6.9%) | 5 (11.1%) | 5 (8.6%) | |
| Age (year) | 0.158 | ||||
| ≤60 | 108 (81.8%) | 27 (93.1%) | 34 (75.6%) | 47 (81.0%) | |
| >60 | 24 (18.2%) | 2 (6.9%) | 11 (24.4%) | 11 (19.0%) | |
| BCLC stage | 0.485 | ||||
| B | 35 (26.5%) | 10 (34.5%) | 12 (26.7%) | 13 (22.4%) | |
| C | 97 (73.5%) | 19 (65.5%) | 33 (73.3%) | 45 (77.6%) | |
| Child-Pugh grade | 0.833 | ||||
| A | 112 (84.9%) | 25 (86.2%) | 37 (82.2%) | 50 (86.2%) | |
| B | 20 (15.1%) | 4 (13.8%) | 8 (17.8%) | 8 (13.8%) | |
| ECOG PS | 0.472 | ||||
| 0 | 113 (85.6%) | 24 (82.8%) | 33 (73.3%) | 41 (70.7%) | |
| ≥1 | 19 (14.4%) | 5 (17.2%) | 12 (26.7%) | 17 (29.3%) | |
| Tumor size (cm) | 0.167 | ||||
| ≤5 | 39 (29.5%) | 5 (17.2%) | 17 (37.8%) | 17 (29.3%) | |
| >5 | 93 (70.5%) | 24 (82.8%) | 28 (62.2%) | 41 (70.7%) | |
| Prior treatment, Ablation | 0.183 | ||||
| YES | 33 (25.0%) | 5 (17.2%) | 9 (20.0%) | 19 (32.8%) | |
| NO | 99 (75.0%) | 24 (82.8%) | 36 (80.0%) | 39 (67.2%) | |
| Prior treatment, Surgery | 0.536 | ||||
| YES | 15 (11.4%) | 3 (10.3%) | 7 (15.6%) | 5 (8.6%) | |
| NO | 117 (88.6%) | 26 (89.7%) | 38 (84.4%) | 53 (91.4%) | |
| Prior treatment, TACE/HAIC | 0.819 | ||||
| YES | 75 (56.8%) | 15 (51.7%) | 26 (57.8%) | 34 (58.6%) | |
| NO | 57 (43.2%) | 14 (48.3%) | 19 (42.2%) | 24 (41.4%) | |
| Prior treatment, Target therapy | 0.612 | ||||
| YES | 49 (37.1%) | 9 (31.0%) | 19 (42.2%) | 21 (36.2%) | |
| NO | 83 (62.9%) | 20 (69.0%) | 26 (57.8%) | 37 (63.8%) | |
| Combined treatment, TACE/HAIC | 0.100 | ||||
| YES | 56 (42.4%) | 17 (89.5%) | 19 (42.2%) | 20 (34.5%) | |
| NO | 76 (57.6%) | 12 (10.5%) | 26 (57.8%) | 38 (65.5%) | |
| Combined treatment, Target therapy | 0.721 | ||||
| YES | 119 (90.2%) | 25 (86.2%) | 41 (91.1%) | 53 (91.4%) | |
| NO | 13 (9.8%) | 4 (13.8%) | 4 (8.9%) | 5 (8.6%) | |
| AFP level (ng/L) | 0.916 | ||||
| ≤400 | 62 (47.0%) | 14 (48.3%) | 20 (44.4%) | 28 (48.3%) | |
| >400 | 70 (53.0%) | 15 (51.7%) | 25 (65.6%) | 30 (51.7%) | |
| NLR | 0.160 | ||||
| <3 | 62 (47.0%) | 16 (55.2%) | 16 (35.6%) | 30 (51.7%) | |
| ≥3 | 70 (53.0%) | 13 (44.8%) | 29 (64.4%) | 28 (48.3%) | |
| CRP level (mg/dL) | <0.001 | ||||
| ≤5 | 38 (28.8%) | 9 (31.0%) | 3 (6.7%) | 26 (44.8%) | |
| >5 | 94 (71.2%) | 20 (69.0%) | 42 (93.3%) | 32 (55.2%) |
Abbreviations: BCLC stage, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage; ECOG PS, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status; TACE, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization; HAIC, hepatic arterial infusion of chemotherapy; AFP, a-fetoprotein; NLR, Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio; CRP, C-reactive protein.